The application of sustainable practices throughout businesses has become an important issue that employers now face; increased demands from stakeholders such as consumers and investors, has led on to unprecedented investment in the implementation of sustainable manufacturing and business practices. (Coones, R. 2012) The benefits of pursuing sustainability throughout organisations has become clear and the risks from avoiding such issues has translated into a large concern for employers globally. (Hitchcock, D.E., & Willard, M. L. 2012)
The report will look in particular at Chester based waste management and recycling company Spirechem and how the issues of sustainability can affect the overall running of the business. Sustainable …show more content…
(Luchsinger, V. 2009)
It has been stated that sustainable development can be broken down into three broad goals: environmental stewardship, social responsibility and economic prosperity, (Placet, M., Anderson R., et al 2005) and a successful business strategy can acknowledge the correlation between the three goals in order to create a competitive business strategy.
Increased demands from stakeholders has led on to various companies shifting overall view of sustainability from a manufacturing overhead on to a business imperative, further leading on to potential growth strategies (Coones, R. 2012) As the issue has become a forefront issue, it has been suggested that practicing sustainability can lead on to positive performance for organisations in the long term. (Coones, R. 2012)
Arguments against the benefits of aggressive sustainability practices do exist, Roscoe suggests that the benefits are difficult to measure and that return on investment may be long term. (Roscoe, A. 2013) Practicing sustainable approaches can be costly for a business especially in terms of the sourcing of particular materials and maintenance costs may also increase. (Clegg, B. …show more content…
The business also offers a range of state of the art waste disposal methods, including waste reprocessing, recycling and composting. (Spirechem, 2014)
3.3 Benefits and risks of Sustainability
Offering sustainability throughout an organisation can lead on to many benefits for an organisation, Miller states that it can boost a company’s overall economic viability and can also lead on creating a more robust and resilient business. (Miller, K. 2011)
Other apparent organisational benefits from pursuing sustainability include:
• Reduced overall energy and waste – It has been reported that some organisations have achieved goals of zero waste to landfill and can also receive money for some waste streams.
• Business Differentiation – For businesses looking to differentiate, the use of sustainable solutions can lead on to separation from competitors.
• Combat Regulation Changes – Legislation has a tendency to change over time therefore effective sustainable solutions can lead on to staying ahead of such