stress engineering services

Equation for the larger, long term solution to increased sustainability, reduced global warming and lower costs

SES = Less CO 2 = Lower Costs

Take a Look at the BIG PICTURE
Light-weighting is a start, but here is the REAL problem; we need to do many things differently for sustainability to happen in more than a small way. A recently published report from the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) prepared by DeloitteTouche titled Sustainability: Balancing Opportunity and Risk in the Consumer Products Industry makes several important points. The big one for packaging is: Tensions exist between pursuing sustainability and achieving growth. Growth trends have resulted in package proliferation and increased transport costs resulting in higher energy use and emissions output. How can sustainable packaging requirements be balanced with conicting consumer demands around convenience? Their answer: Transformational Business Model Innovation is Required.

The Problem is the Model

The second level of sustainability requires a major rethinking of product delivery necessary to change business models. It doesnt take much exposure to material data to reach the conclusion that material with inherently long life and difcult recycling should be used for long-term applications, and that material easy to recycle and/or short-lived make the most sense for short-lived uses. This is a relevant thought process if you believe any nite limits regarding supply and environmental effects. It obviously doesnt square with economics or material use practices at present. It might in the future, and we might have no choice but to go there.

Matching Material to Lifecycle

Here is a great picture showing a fabric conditioner bottle being refilled from a fabric softener dispenser in an ASDA store. No question, making a fabric conditioner bottle last through 20, 50, or 100 rellings is more sustainable than a single lling and more sustainable than any optimization of packaging in a single use package strategy. Think about it. Bulk delivery of uids minimizes transport costs and emissions. Packaging material costs and emissions all but disappear. Filling and packing lines disappear. But there are capital equipment and maintenance costs for store-level lling machines. Coke and Pepsi do this all the time on a large scale. Consumers can purchase products in an individually (or store) customized quantity to t their budget and container (or your container). Maybe theres an additional business selling a value-added reusable container that makes dispensing even friendlier than today since more can be invested against the much longer life. If theres a cost reduction in this model, how much additional demand does it stimulate for the rst company to do it? SES can help you start imagining and evaluating new business model solutions that give you an advantage, and serve the needs of sustainability and cost at the same time.

To Improve Your Sustainability Scorecard

Call SES today at 866-888-8333
on the web at www.stress.com
Cincinnati Houston N e w O r l e a n s
2007 Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
#376b