Sustainable Future —Polischuk

I hope sustainability is not a subject people get tired of hearing about. It really shouldn't be—in many ways it could be the central theme for the generation of young adults just starting to make their mark on the world. I keep telling my son that he should be thankful for all the "opportunities" my generation is leaving for him—sustainability being just one of many.

In the world of package printing, if printers get tired of hearing about sustainability, they might as well say they are tired of doing business. One hint at the reason for this can be summed up by two "words"—Wal-Mart and P&G. These two behemoths have made it clear—through substantial initiatives—that sustainability will be important to their suppliers. Wal-Mart's Packaging Scorecard was introduced close to four years ago and has spawned a sub-industry of consultancies.

In May, P&G launched its Supplier Environmental Sustainability Scorecard, the culmination of 18 months of work. According to the company, "The scorecard will assess P&G suppliers' environmental footprint and encourage continued improvement by measuring energy use, water use, waste disposal, and greenhouse gas emissions on a year-to-year basis." In the future, P&G will use the scorecard to provide a sustainability rating as part of its annual supplier performance evaluations.

"The launch of the Supplier Environmental Sustainability Scorecard represents the next step in P&G's commitment to environmental sustainability and reflects the Company's holistic, end-to-end supply chain strategy," said P&G Chairman, President, and CEO Bob McDonald. "Keeping sustainability at the core of our business fuels innovation and strengthens our results."

I don't think it would be going out on a limb to say that the motivation behind these significant undertakings is not simply to be good corporate citizens. That is certainly part of the equation, and smart companies will get mileage from that angle. However, sustainability offers many opportunities to improve bottom lines and grow businesses, as well.

Our cover story on CardPak is a good case in point. The company used a new sustainability product platform as one element of a multifaceted approach to position the company for growth. The product line went from non-existent to representing up to 35 percent of its product mix, and reduced CardPak's dependency on its commodity products.

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