Press Contact: Sophie Cardona: (212) 361-2400, ext. 244 , or email cardona@informinc.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, ­ December 18, 1998

BRINGING TOGETHER ENVIRONMENTAL AND BUSINESS GOALS: NEW STUDY FINDS KEYS TO "GREEN MANUFACTURING"

New York, NY-- "Good for the environment, good for the bottom line." These words are being heard more and more often as companies recognize the importance of integrating business functions like design and manufacturing with improvements in pollution prevention, according to a new report issued by INFORM, a national non-profit environmental research organization.

In Joining Forces: Case Studies in Business and Environmental Integration, researchers from INFORM and the Waste Reduction Institute (WRI), a Minneapolis-based environmental consulting group, describe successful examples of integration at three of the nation's leading manufacturers: SC Johnson, DuPont, and General Electric. "At each of the facilities examined for the report," said INFORM co-author Mark Dorfman, "communication and coordination of activities and goals enabled managers concerned with the bottom line to appreciate and support environmental initiatives." At the same time, environmental managers became part of a team dedicated to improving efficiency and increasing profitability.

What It Takes to Integrate
At the Racine, Wisconsin, facility of consumer products manufacturer SC Johnson (SCJ), involvement of toxicologists and environmental staff in product development led to new, nonpesticide-based insect controls and elimination of 10 harmful chemicals and compounds from the company's products. Between 1990 and 1996, reductions in energy, packaging, and materials use eliminated 400 million pounds of waste at SCJ and saved the company at least $120 million.

At DuPont's plant in LaPorte, Texas, elimination of toxic emissions and waste from manufacturing processes is the aim of "The Goal is Zero" program. Progress in environmental performance is now a responsibility of business managers, whose salaries are tied to measures like spill prevention and worker safety. As a result, the plant has reported reductions of over 90 percent in toxic air emissions since 1987.

At GE's operations in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, a chemical management system requires all new materials used in the facility to be reviewed and approved by environmental health and safety staff.. As a result of the joint efforts of business and environmental managers, Vega Baja has reduced the number of chemicals used by 61 percent, cut solid waste generation from 52,000 pounds in 1993 to 15,000 pounds in 1996, and reduced hazardous waste generation during the same period by 56 percent.

Speak in the Language of Business
INFORM's report concludes that the integration of business and environmental management depends on several factors: corporate culture, the types and amounts of materials used in manufacturing, the resulting environmental issues, the regulations the facility is subject to, and the potential synergy between environmental and business goals.

"To be successful," said INFORM Founder Joanna Underwood, "environmental managers have to demonstrate the benefits that a careful consideration of environmental issues can bring to manufacturing and business processes. And they need to do that in the language of business and manufacturing, not just the language of environmental protection."