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Being Sustainable Involves Everyone
September 24, 2008 By: Kristin Smith Box BizSustainability is a growing trend, but in order to be successful, it can’t be thought of as just a passing fad. It needs to be approached as a long-term way of doing business. And doing that involves global cooperation. That is the message Poteet Printing Systems President Roger Poteet was trying to convey when he addressed attendees at TAPPI Corrugated Packaging Division’s general session Monday.
| Consider these seven questions when looking at equipment, Roger Poteet suggests: • How does this decision make my business better and stronger? • How does this allow me to work more efficiently and effectively? • Six months from now, will the results of this decision still be helping me grow my business? • Can I measure how this will save me time/money/energy? • Can I measure how this will help me develop a more unique and marketable value proposition? • Does this decision have a positive impact on my employees, my customers, our environment, and the world? • Are the benefits of this decision short-lived, or are they cornerstones of my sustainable journey? |
“Sustainability is a journey. It does not have an end point,” Poteet emphasizes.
Using Montgomeryville, Pa.-based Mid-Atlantic Packaging’s dedication to sustainability as a model, Poteet says becoming a sustainable business involves everyone from the employees to the customers, to ultimately the entire planet.
To break it down, Poteet says businesses should begin with senior management and develop a mission statement that will serve as a guiding principal. Mid-Atlantic Packaging’s President and CEO Andrew Pierson has made sustainability a full-time responsibility at his company with specific goals and objectives. And that commitment is backed up with both the finances and the personnel to accomplish it.
The sustainable business accepts responsibility and that involves making decisions based on energy and resources, Poteet says. Weighing the best options to make the most sustainable decision needs to be done frequently. And the right decision may vary from company to company.
He uses ink dispensers as an example of becoming a more sustainable box plant and shows advantages and disadvantages of petroleum-based resin verses soy-based resin in inks. While using a soy-based resin can mean a major reduction in the carbon footprint, he says, there is “no real substitute” for petroleum.
He also showed how air from a scrap conveyor system can be recycled back into the machines, rather than being released through the roof. This can reduce horsepower by 12 percent, Poteet claims. There also are opportunities in heating, lighting and landscaping, he adds.
It is the challenge of businesses to take advantage of new advancements and determine where they can be applied, Poteet says.
