Environmental and Profits can be written in the same Sentence

To remain competitive in the world market the USA manufacturing sector must deal with its environmental responsibilities. So how to merge business with environmental requires the following three drivers:

1) Doing the Right Thing 
2) Profitability
3) Regulations

These three drivers apply to the domestic as well as international business sectors. There has been a lot written, and discussed on ISO 14001, and its sister Health and Safety OHSAS 18001, being able to bridge the gap and link these three facets. For the common CEO, or even COO, dealing with the here and now of how to generate a profit this week, versus the long term increased profits that can be generated by making modifications to business practices based on the ISO 14001 do not seem practical. In fact they seem more like left wing (progressive) enviro wacko bable, than real business solutions. Believe me I was a big non-believer when I was first introduced to ISO 14001 by one of my professors from the University of Findlay. I argued heavily against it during many classes, it is a wonder I passed the class.

Let me stop here a moment and step back to give some background on myself. I spent several years as a state regulator from field investor to the enforcement guy that closed down the first gasoline station in Texas for failure to properly upgrade the gasoline tanks. During this time I learned a little bit about regulations, the application, and those who enforce them. Following 8 years of doing that I moved into the private sector as a private consultant for 14 years that included both the domestic and international worlds. So I’ve seen several sides of the fence.
Generally speaking domestic regulations are not as ‘bad’ as most business want everyone to believe. Egad that definitely marks me as a wacko. Please don’t turn me off yet, give me a chance. The regulations are not that bad when one looks at the intent. The intent of environmental regulations is to protect human health and the environment—both. If the environment is polluted we who live in that environment are harmed. Doesn’t matter if it is some out of sight groundwater, or a plot of land in the center of the city.

Now what has gotten out of control are the people who enforce those regulations, as their intent has taken good regulations and twisted them to be something that does no good for anyone thus making them ‘bad’.

So instead of trying to change the regulations, it is better to change the ‘culture’ of the people who enforce. I can not say for certain, but it seems that most of the ‘bad’ enforcement people I have come across whether it was EPA or state level have come from a purely educational background with no experience in the real world, and on the flip side the good ones have had that experience. Who knows if I am right, but it sure does seem that way to me.
Now back on topic.

The first two drivers are actually all connected to the business operations, its profitability, and amazingly as it may seem have nothing to do with regulations! What in the world am I talking about now? Well, once a business sets itself up to be profitable using the best processes, capitalizes on the profits associated with elimination of wastes in those processes, and establishes a market for the remaining wastes, the issue regarding regulations quiet naturally goes away---poof like magic.

I have spoken to CEO/COOs who have said that this sounds all well and good, but doing this takes time and their businesses needed to increase profits today. And the Chinese do not have to worry about their environment, so this makes for an uneven playing field.

True, the Chinese are destroying their environment. They are also killing their people in mining and manufacturing, and in the contaminated foods they are feeding their people. So does that mean that our businesses should be allowed to do the same? The Chinese issue is another problem all on its own, that we each must consider the next time we shop; consider the implications from our economy to the Chinese military we are building every time we buy something made in China.

China will burn itself out given enough time, already Peking is a place most anyone with lung issues would best avoid; don’t drink the water.

We can make our business more competitive simply by investing in ourselves with modern equipment, establishing processes that are not wasteful, and focus on the various avenues to generate a profit. All of which in fact require a good well rounded environmental person (or even a health/safety) person who not only knows their job, but also understands business.
What the heck does Doing the Right Thing mean? It means that by evaluating the current business methods with the focus on how to do them better with less inputs while maintaining quality and reducing waste will result in a process that meets the definition of Doing the Right Thing.

In the USA we have been fortunate to have had access to abundant natural resources along with the governance to establish us at one time as a manufacturing leaders. Germany has had little resources during this same time, but has remained a manufacturing leader. Why? They do more with less, and do it right. So it can be done.

My advice to the business world, and to environmental professionals is:

1. 1)  Work together
   
2. 2)  Don’t focus on the avoidance of regulations
   
3. 3)  Invest in new machinery
   
4. 4)  Invest in establishing processes that eliminate waste
   
5. 5)  Identify ways to increase profits through these processes
   

Environmental and Profits can be written in the same sentence