The Positive Impacts of Green Manufacturing and Why Businesses Should Make The Switch
Importance of Eco-Friendly Products
Most people are aware of the rising need for more sustainable consumer products throughout the world to help protect the environment. Though, not as many people are as enlightened about the production of eco-friendly products and why an environmentally aware creation process is necessary.
Learn more about the importance of environment-conscious production as well as the benefits that such changes bring in both the short and long term.
How will the shift from standard to sustainable production occur?
An instant difference between environmentally aware production processes and traditional, less environment-focused processes is the importance placed on energy efficiency throughout the whole manufacturing process as well as in the production of the goods.
This means selecting everything from fuel sources to light bulbs as well as packaging and promotion in a sustainable way. Companies can start this process slowly or make an organizational shift to this mode of operating – however, as the process of the production of eco-friendly products occurs, it’ll likely be a significant change of focus for the manufacturing industry across the globe.
Recent research from Arup, a global consulting engineering firm, and the University of Worcester in the UK suggested that “the needed shift in industrial practices is as significant as the Industrial Revolution,” highlighting how fundamental the change in perspective and practice such a switch in manufacturing needs.
What instantaneous impact is likely from changing to green manufacturing practices?
By switching how energy is used to develop environmentally-friendly promotional products and other products, businesses should expect to witness reductions in power bills from the offset. Energy-efficient light bulbs, reducing electricity standby modes for equipment, and effective waste management approaches are just some of the practices that can significantly help to cut costs straightaway.
An example of this in the Australian business world is the NSW Sustainability Advantage initiative, which oversees the promotion of eco-friendly manufacturing and production processes across the region and has helped over 500 companies to reap combined financial rewards of $79 million annually by following greener production policies.
As well as this, embracing sustainable business practices and putting them at
the forefront of operations will lead to a renewed company brand, changing the way people you’re your products and your corporate ethos to a more positive way, which could lead to wider consumer bases and wider access to markets.
What will the long-term benefits be?
While the commercial effects can be seen almost immediately, other benefits of making the switch to sustainable production practices such as making reusable packages and other products may take longer to unfold. This includes the main purpose, protecting the environment, which will take longer before we can witness real changes in air quality and related environmental factors.
As well as this, making manufacturing processes greener is also likely to result in less reliance on nonrenewable energy sources – according to the International Energy Agency “fossil fuels continue to be the dominant energy sources,” showing how important it is to act immediately and reduce this level of dependency for a sustainable and healthier environment.
However, the research states that the combined global reliance on coal, oil, and gas is likely to drop from 81 to 75 percent by 2035. This could be aided by an increasing number of organizations choosing to manufacture goods in a green and sustainable way, including using renewable energy sources to fuel production operations.
Hopefully, this guide to the production of eco-friendly products processes has inspired your company to extend or embrace this area of organizational operations, helping to cut costs, improve the brand image as well as save the planet.
References and Resources
International Energy Agency 2019 Report
https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2019
United States Energy Protection Agency
