Manufacturing is a constantly growing and changing industry. U.S. manufacturers alone made more than $150 billion in profits each quarter in 2017. One of the things that is sparking conversations in the manufacturing industry is sustainability and eco-friendly processes. How can American manufacturers benefit from making their processes more sustainable?
1. Lower Costs
Manufacturing is a constant struggle to balance costs with profits. One major benefit of eco-friendly processing is that it can help you reduce your overall production costs. This can be broken down across the production process from raw material collection to final packaging and shipment.
You can reduce the impact of fines and penalties associated with toxic production processes by switching to a greener plan. Even steps like recycling water used during production can help to reduce overall costs while improving. Other cost-saving eco-friendly processes include:
- Utilizing energy efficient lighting — Not only do energy efficient lights save you money on overall infrastructure costs, they last longer so it reduces replacement costs in the long run.
- Incorporating solar energy — Building solar panels on your property can require a larger initial investment, but they pay for themselves in terms of energy saved over time.
- Switching to non-toxic chemicals — If you can alter your production process, switching to non-toxic chemicals, or easily recyclable chemicals, can help to reduce costs and improve manufacturing processes.
Lowering costs through incorporating sustainable manufacturing processes can also benefit your business in a myriad of other ways.
2. Reduced Environmental Impact
Every aspect of the manufacturing process impacts the environment, especially if those processes are currently unsustainable.
This doesn’t have to be a complete overhaul of your processes. Any step that you can take to reduce your impact on the environment can be beneficial to your company in the long run. Start by taking small steps toward sustainable processes in all parts of your manufacturing, and you’ll see your environmental impact start to drop steadily. Some simple steps you can take include:
- Integrating renewable energy use — Solar, hydroelectric or wind energy can all keep your factory running while reducing your reliance on fossil fuels.
- Utilize recyclable packaging — Make every aspect of your package recyclable or made from recyclable materials. Integrate recycled materials into as many aspects of your process as you can.
- Determine how green you are — How efficient is your equipment? Take the time to figure out how green you really are and figure out how you can make changes to your processes.
3. Tax and Monetary Incentives
The ultimate goal of manufacturing is to create new items and provide them to the consumer for a profit. An additional reason to move into green manufacturing is the tax incentives for going green.
These incentives do vary from year to year but can include everything from an additional deduction per square foot of your facility for installing energy-efficient HVAC equipment to a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for installing green energy options such as solar panels, wind turbines or geothermal systems.
4. Stay in Touch with Industry Trends
Manufacturing is all about innovation — and most of the product innovations in recent years are focused on sustainability and eco-friendliness. By taking some time to focus on your company’s individual sustainability, it’s easier to stay in touch with the changes that are happening both to the manufacturing industry and across the board.
While this might not seem like a monetary benefit initially, it can help give you a leg up on industry trends that you need to be ahead of.
5. Regulation Compliance
In manufacturing, one of the most important things to consider is regulatory compliance. Sustainability, while beneficial, shouldn’t be something that is done only in response to political or regulatory changes. Instead, use this as motivation to make your business as sustainable as possible. By switching to sustainable practices, it becomes easier to remain in compliance with state and federal regulations, especially those that refer to environmental impact.
Start Today
Eco-friendly processes and sustainable manufacturing are the future. It’s important to get in on the ground floor. Start transitioning your company to a more sustainable business model today, rather than having to catch up in the future as regulations change.