SD Vision - Halyps Cement

iMac, it has cut raw material content by
50% and energy consumption by 40%.
Boeing designed its new Dreamliner
with both the environment and costs in
mind: by using lightweight composite
materials, the company improved fuel
effi ciency by more than 20%, reducing
the customer’s lifetime ownership cost
and potential future environmental exposure.
Consumers, too, are pushing
companies to become more environmentally
friendly and are helping to create
some great new businesses. Clorox,
for example, captured 40% of the US
natural cleaning products market within
the fi rst quarter of launching its Green-
Works line, increasing the size of the
overall category substantially. Moreover,
it did so by offering a suite of products
that were up to 25% cheaper than other
natural products. This made customers
happy and shareholders very happy, as
it generated margins 20 to 25% higher
than the company’s average. As these
examples show, awareness of environmental
impact can drive innovation.
Eco-innovation is more likely
to come from countries where
regulators are more fl exible,
where they understand the
urgency of whole environmental
question and do not raise
barriers. This enables an entire
system to transform gradually.
In the future, only companies that
make sustainability a goal will
achieve a competitive advantage.
That means rethinking business
models as well as products,
technologies, and processes.
Do you agree with this point of
view?
Sustainability will undoubtedly be an
important factor – not the only factor –
for companies to compete successfully
because it requires the ability to manage
resources productively. If companies can
produce the same quantity of products
with lower consumption and a better
use of raw materials, this is a clear benefi
t and will give them a competitive advantage.
But it’s diffi cult to say whether
sustainability will be the most important
competitive factor.
It is more applicable in some industries
than in others.
Do you believe that companies
operating in the industrialised
world can drive eco-innovation for
the global economy?
Only in part. All companies worldwide
will be under pressure to control the
planet’s resources – energy and others
– better.
But driving ecological innovation depends
largely on the point of departure.
Companies in industrialised countries
will undoubtedly push major improvements,
but they are bound by their past
and this can act as a brake on innovation.
Emerging markets are better positioned
to be eco-innovators because
they are starting from scratch and have
no barriers to break down.
China, for example, leads the world
in terms of energy consumption and
pollution. But it is also the largest
developer of renewable energy. A
Chinese company holds a 12% share
of the US solar panel market and plans
to capture 20% in the next two years.
China also produces and consumes the
most wind energy in the world. So, on
one hand it is a heavy polluter because
it needs energy to sustain its growth,
but on the other it is positioning itself
as the world’s largest producer of clean
energy.
This suggests that innovation is more
likely to come from countries where
regulators are more fl exible, where
they understand the urgency of whole
environmental question and do not
raise barriers. This enables an entire
system to transform gradually.
Do you believe in the green
economy as a milestone of the “next
economy”?
It will certainly be a major factor,
although not the only one.
McKinsey forecasts that over the next
10 years 2 trillion dollars will be invested
in clean technologies worldwide. This
industry already generates revenues of
around 1 trillion dollars a year.
This means that the green economy
will be a driving force behind the
general economy and we can’t ignore
it. It will not be the only one, but it
will determine the success or failure of
many companies, depending on their
ability to manage dwindling resources
and create sustainable development.
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