Achieving financial gain through zero waste

For years, many businesses have questioned whether they can achieve profitability by reducing their carbon footprints. However, given the rise in environmental awareness, more organizations are dealing with terms such as “carbon neutral,” “renewable energy,” “eco-design” and “green” on a daily basis. This is challenging them to think broadly about how they impact the environment and whether waste is really an operational necessity.

Business expert Pamela Gordon notes that by deploying Lean tactics, businesses are discovering new ways of embracing green. This strategy enables them to not only achieve profits while minimizing costs, but also improve competitiveness and brand reputation.

Entrepreneurs need to understand the zero-waste concept. Gordon likens it to children's lemonade stands – they use lemons growing on trees in a backyard, free tap water, reusable pitchers and makeshift stands. After a long day of selling lemonade, they preserve whatever is left to drink throughout the next few days. Because everything is reusable and produced internally, this lemonade business is a zero-waste operation.

Waste isn't logical from an operational perspective – there are very few instances where it actually makes sense to be wasteful. By focusing on zero waste, businesses are able to almost unintentionally reduce savings, as well as create new revenue streams.

That being said, zero waste may seem like a foreign concept to many businesses. They might be able to see the merits of such approaches, but the difficulty lies in getting experienced executives to change ingrained practices. The older a company is and the longer it operates, the more resistant people may be to making meaningful, major changes.

Zero waste isn't just for businesses

If executives are unwilling to try Lean and green philosophies such as zero waste, Gordon urges them to look at how governments operate. According to her, zero waste isn't limited to businesses – many government organizations, ranging from state agencies to operations in other countries, are making the switch.

Business owners need to ask themselves, if even budget-starved governments are making the jump to zero waste, wouldn't it be an effective approach for their companies as well?