Sustainability strategy
- 1. Developing a Sustainability Strategy a ten-point guide for small to medium sized businesses
- 2. Overview Business sustainability is becoming increasingly important for managers in the modern economy. Put simply, business sustainability can be described as a holistic continuous improvement process that includes the sound management of people and the environment. Business sustainability makes good business sense because the benefits feed directly back into the bottom line. But where do we start as small-medium sized businesses? Rather then being just ‘another thing to do’, business sustainability is an over arching concept that involves doing everything better and more efficiently. True sustainability must be integrated into all operations of business - from policy and management through to on-ground activities such as purchasing, production and distribution. While sustainability needs to be driven from the top, it’s not just the job of a single staff member or department - it involves everyone! Sustainability is often approached in an ad-hoc way. For example, you may have a couple of stand- alone initiatives in your work place that are not linked to any broad strategic objectives of the business. This is a good start, but a coordinated process requires the development of a sustainability strategy that is strongly aligned to the business plan. This document will guide you through the steps to help you develop a strategic approach to sustainability in business. Developing a Sustainability Strategy 1. Business Drivers 2. Vision 3. Objectives 6. Strategies 10. Improve 4. Current Position 7. Action Plan 5. Gap Analysis 8. Implementation 9. Monitor & Review The Business Plan
- 3. Ten Step Approach Step 1 - Determine Business Drivers Identify the pressures that are driving your business to become more sustainable. They may include: • Potential to improve the bottom line through increased efficiencies; • Demonstrating leadership and improving your image and reputation; • Compliance and risk management; • Personal passion and commitment to making a difference. The Big Cheese Company - Business Drivers The Big Cheese company believes that sustainable growth and maximising shareholder value into the future will be achieved by: a) Paying careful attention to customer needs, and providing superior quality and value; (driver – product quality) b) Establishing clean and efficient production processes that minimises resource use and minimises negative impacts to the local environment, (drivers - cost and environmental stewardship) c) Establishing strong links with our local community. (driver - reputation management) Step 2 - Set a Vision A vision statement announces your future goals – it is your ‘compass’ to show the outside world where your organisation is heading. The best vision statements are short, clear and concise, realistic and have measurable outcomes. You may choose to draft a sustainability policy that formalises your company’s commitment to the vision, and display it prominently in your workplace. (An example of a sustainability policy can be found in Attachment A) The Big Cheese Company - Vision The first cheese company that, by its actions, demonstrates what sustainability is in all its dimensions - people, process, product, place and profits. How we do this – the Sustainability Goals We will produce sustainable cheese products by 2015, by: • Reducing greenhouse emissions from energy consumption to zero, • Reducing our impact on local water supplies through responsible use and disposal, • Being a waste wise manufacturer, • Working closely with our local community in all of our operations.
- 4. Ten Step Approach Step 3 - Set Objectives Your objectives relate to your sustainability goals. They are more specific than your goals as they contain numbers and dates. The Big Cheese Company - Objectives To achieve our goals by 2015, the Big Cheese has established the following objectives. Objective 1 - Reduce our consumption of mains water by 80% Objective 2 - Source 100% of our energy from renewable sources Objective 3 - Use 100% of raw materials from local environmentally accredited sources Objective 4 - Generate zero waste to land fill Objective 5 - Employ 95% of our staff from the local area, Cheeseville Step 4 - Establish Current Position In order for you to reach your goals, you will need to develop a good understanding of the current position of your business – which includes an understanding of its key impacts. Use the Sustainability Self Assessment tool to establish benchmarks and raise awareness about what sustainability means in the context of running your business. Establishing the current position of Big Cheese “By using the Sustainability Self Assessment Tool, we have been able to establish some benchmarking figures across a range of sustainability indicators including water and energy consumption. It helped us understand the extent of some of our key impacts, and also helped us identify other sustainability issues that we hadn’t previously thought of. We recognise that we are a particularly large user of water so we engaged the auditing services of our local retailer to help us develop a more detailed understanding of our consumption levels and patterns. “ Step 5 - Analyse Gaps Identify the areas of your business that have the greatest impacts - these areas are likely to reap the greatest potential benefits. The Big Cheese Gap Analysis “The Water Audit has provided us with a detailed understanding of our consumption levels and patterns in the production process. We have been able to identify areas that are problematic and we now realise where we need to concentrate our efforts for the biggest gain.”
- 5. Ten Step Approach Step 6 - Develop Strategies Now it’s time to develop appropriate strategies to address the most significant impacts of your business. A strategy describes how you will reach your objectives and should be aligned to the business drivers identified in Step 1. The Big Cheese Water Strategy This example relates to Objective 1 – Reduce Mains Water Consumption by 80% of current levels by 2015. Strategy 1 Water Efficiency Strategy - This strategy will explore opportunities for more efficient water infrastructure. It will target the production process on the factory floor and water consumption in the office. Strategy 2 Water Catchment Strategy – This strategy will explore options for the best way to capture, store and treat water for on-site use. The strategy will consider all water uses in the company including potable (water used for drinking and in the production process) and non potable uses on the site. Strategy 3 Water Education Strategy – This strategy will focus on staff education to encourage all employees to play a positive role in working towards the company’s water conservation objectives. The strategy will include incentives and awards to promote water conservation initiatives in all areas of operations. Strategy 4 Water Partnerships Strategy – This strategy will aim to develop stronger links with our suppliers (including the suppliers of manufacturing equipment, our water retailer, and other stakeholders) to explore further opportunities to minimise consumption through innovation and technology. Step 7 - Develop Action Plan The action plan is the key planning document that describes what actions you will undertake to achieve your objectives. It identifies aspects required for implementation including: • Cost/benefit calculations and payback periods • Targets, milestones and target dates • Budgets • Other resources, including staff, technical expertise, external agencies • Monitoring, evaluation and reporting processes Use the Sustainability Action Plan Template in Attachment B to help you through this stage. Step 8 - Implementation After all this planning, it’s now time for the doing! Integrate actions into core business processes and regular reporting cycles. This is also where you may need to develop or adjust policies and procedures for the various aspects of your business to ensure that each staff member understands their role in the business.
- 6. Ten Step Approach Step 9 - Monitoring and Review This is critical to gauge your progress towards your overall objectives. Regularly monitor using graphs and diagrams to help with the communication process.You can use your Sustainability Self Assessment tool to track and monitor your progress. “You can’t manage what you can’t measure” Step 10 - Improve Incorporate this process into the company’s overall continuous improvement process. Tips Gain senior management support at every step Be realistic about the time and effort required for implementation Involve others Display simple reports in staff room Acknowledge & reward outcomes Share your successes with others Please Note: This document is a quick guide only, designed to assist small to medium sized businesses develop a more strategic approach to sustainability. It is not designed to replace existing approaches as required by various environmental certification schemes such as ISO 14000.
- 7. Attachment A - Characteristics of a standard environment policy Title and Company Name THE BIG CHEESE PTY LTD DAIRY PRODUCTS MANUFACTURER ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY STATEMENT The Big Cheese Pty Ltd is one of Australia’s major dairy producers. The company strives to be environmentally aware and actively supports programmes that minimise negative impacts on the environment. We are committed to comply with relevant legislation and requirements to prevent pollution. We seek to understand the effects our activities have on the environment and to continually improve its environmental performance by supporting initiatives such as: Waste minimisation Recycling of natural resources Understanding of Reduction of material and energy consumption impacts & key action areas Actions to prevent accidental pollution The Big Cheese Pty Ltd seeks to ensure that its Environmental plans, objectives and progress against these plans are made available to all interested parties and are relevant to its activities. We will ensure that this policy and all procedures relating to it are understood, implemented and maintained. Our belief is that this policy can only be successfully achieved with the support and commitment of all employees at The Big Cheese. Jack Cheese OPERATIONS MANAGER DATE: 01/2/05 Governance & transparency Commitment Communication / Training Name, title & date Implementation
- 8. Sustainability Action Plan The Big Cheese Company July 2005 This document outlines various sustainability actions identified in the Big Cheese Sustainability Strategy Impact & Description Baseline Actions for Potential Benefits / Comments Estimated Capital Payback Target Target Budget Other Officer Strategy Figure Consideration Savings Cost Period Date Resources units - $ $ months Water Strategy 1 Taps in toilets & 1000 Install flow Easy to install, very cheap. 1000 litres, $200 24 9000 07/06 $200 Plumber John kitchen litres restrictors in toilets Immediate reduction in $100 p/a litres Gorgonzola and kitchen taps consumption following installation. Toilet cistern 8000 Install half flush Significant potential to reduce 3000 litres, $900 36 5000 07/06 $900 Plumber John litres cisterns consumption from flushing $300 p/a litres Gorgonzola toilets by around 40%. Rebates available. Waste Energy Electricity Gas Transport Raw Materials Noise Community Other