Insights

July 1, 2013

Materials Management for Sustainability

At the Sustainable Business & Enterprise Roundtable (SBER) Q2 Executive Symposium, SBER Member Executives discussed how leading executives are creating sustainable workplaces within their companies. Specifically, they examined four new areas of original SR Inc Executive Guidance and Tools: building interiors, lighting technologies, food service, and materials management. SR Inc is poised to develop tools and research to address each one.

The fourth of these reports is described below, along with various key issues and questions Member-clients identified throughout the discussion.

Materials Management for Sustainability

As they target greater operational efficiency, leading companies recognize that a broader strategy around materials procurement, design, diversion, reuse, and disposal can generate both cost savings and innovations in operations to drive new enterprise value.

Key Issues Highlighted at the Executive Discussion:

• Waste is primarily a cost savings issue, especially in prime markets.  
• Waste diversion is a high-profile concern for employees, tenants, the C-suite, and other stakeholders.
• Good, accurate data is a challenge, even for many leaders in waste diversion.
• Compactors can increase cost savings by increasing diversion and reducing pickups.
• A market for repurposable materials – such as furniture and construction materials – is developing.
• Leaders leverage lifecycle thinking in materials procurement as part of the broader workplace sustainability strategy.

Selected SBER Executive Guidance:

• SBER-ELC Briefing: Reducing Waste, Increasing Diversion

 

Is your company exploring ways to make your workplace more sustainable? We’d love to hear from you. Tell us about it in the comments section below. Please check out our Digital Library for full reports of the above research, or reach out to your SR Inc advisor directly. To find out about SR Inc membership, please contact us.