Healthy Business Strategies - Clean Production Action

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Clean Production Action Mark Rossi, Beverley Thorpe Clean Production Action promotes the use of products that are safer and cleaner across their life cycle for consumers, workers and communities. Our mission is to advance Clean Production which we define as the design of products and manufacturing processes in harmony with natural ecological cycles, the elimination of toxic waste and inputs and the use of renewable energy and materials. Pure Strategies, Inc. Tim Greiner, Bob Kerr Pure Strategies helps companies improve their environmental and social performance using clean production tools, sustainable materials, strong community relationships and transparent measures of progress. Acknowledgements We wish to particularly thank the following foundations for their generous support: • Panta Rhea Foundation • Marisla Foundation • Overbrook Foundation • Kendeda Sustainability Fund We also wish to thank: • Avalon Natural Products: Morris Shriftman • Dell: Mark Newton and Bryant Hilton • Hennes & Mauritz AB: Ingrid Schullström and Elin Robling • Herman Miller: Scott Charon, Gabe Wing and Mark Schurman • Interface Fabric: Wendy Porter • Kaiser Permanente: Tom Cooper, Lynn Garske and Kathy Gerwig Production Credits • Design: David Gerratt/NonprofitDesign.com A project of Clean Production Action June 2006 c o n T e n T s 1 Executive Summary: Healthy Business Strategies 4 Introduction: Creating a Competitive Advantage 5 Toxic Chemicals in the Economy 9 Brands at Risk 10 From Toxic to Green Chemistry — Taking Action 15 Case Studies in Transforming the Toxic Chemical Economy 15 Kaiser Permanente: Healthy Patients, Workers and Communities 19 Interface Fabric: Benign by Design 25 H&M: Fashion Chemistry 30 Herman Miller: Healthy Chairs 35 Avalon Natural Products: Consciousness in Cosmetics 40 Dell, Inc.: Mainstreaming the Precautionary Principle 45 Lessons for the Journey 47 Recommendations for Healthy Business Strategies 49 References
E x E C u T I v E S u M M A R y Healthy Business Strategies Business leaders are creating value by embedding concerns for human health and the environment into their products. Healthy business strategies differentiate a company’s brand from its competitors — lowering costs, enhancing consumer and employee loyalty and increasing market share by creating healthier products for people and nature. For these leading companies, using environmentally preferred chemicals and materials is a core value, not a secondary assignment relegated to the periphery of the company. unfortunately, the dominant approach of businesses using toxic chemicals involves no strategy other than toxics ignorance and compliance. Toxics-ignorant firms forego strategic thinking on chemicals and know little about the chemicals and materials used in their product nor the hazards they pose. Toxics-compliant firms do the minimum required by law, seeking only to conform with regulations that govern worker health, handling and storage of and pollution control of toxic chemicals. Firms operating in the toxics compliance and ignorance universe fail to anticipate market opportunities for healthy products and expend scarce resources combating chemicals restrictions and public demands for safer products. This report profiles six companies that are crafting healthy strategies for using chemicals and materials in their products. This report does not address the totality of producer responsibility for each company’s product life cycle such as end of life product management, energy use and social corporate responsibility. This report does, however, provide detailed examples of how companies are now integrating safer chemicals use into their policies and the recommendations and lessons resulting from this. This report synthesizes and presents a coherent approach any firm can adopt to move beyond outdated toxics ignorance and toxics compliance approaches and towards a fully integrated healthy business strategy. The Problem — Toxics Ignorance u.S. laws do not protect people and the environment from toxic chemicals. Each of us carries as many as 200 industrial chemicals in our bodies — chemicals that were invented in the past 75 years. These chemicals aren’t healthy business strategies for transforming the toxic chemical economy
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