NC State of Business

Industries have a history of “wrestling” with Legal regulatory requirements for environmental areas such as air quality, water quality, storage of hazardous materials and others. These mandates come from a variety of agencies ranging from Federal (US EPA) to State (NC DENR) to local (municipalities such as the City of Raleigh). When new rules are proposed, drafted, promulgated, and finalized – there is much debate, negotiations, and discussions on the rule itself as well as costs to be incurred for companies complying with the new rule.

Now there is a different scenario. Consumer based demands for Green Companies. It looks like we (consumers) are getting more environmentally savvy – and want out products to be manufactured in a “green” manner. We want
- High rates of recycling and reuse of materials
- Low levels of toxic pollutants discharged to the environment
- Small quantities of solid waste (packaging, cardboard, etc)
- High energy efficiencies
- Product design to minimize environmental impacts from usage and disposal
- Small carbon footprints
- Others

Of course the most well known example of this is Walmart’s request to suppliers – to supply information on 15 questions ranging from - What is your Green House Gas emissions (Carbon Footprint)? -To- What is your total amount of waste generated? If the federal government mandated these requirements to companies – you could bet there would be an outcry of “unfair burden to manufactures” – or – another “unfunded government mandate”. However, if the request is coming from a company’s “customer” – most suppliers will quickly comply – in order to maintain existing contracts.

The world is changing. Information availability is incredible. And Environmental Footprints for most companies – will be available on-line. Walmart Senior VP of Sustainability Matt Kistler envisions labeling all products sold at Walmart with a Sustainability Product Index (SPI) – akin to the nutritional label used for foods. Perhaps one can of tennis balls would have 5 stars on the SPI to indicate excellence in Environmental Sustainability, where as another can may only have 4 stars. Will the average Walmart shopper incorporate this information into their decision to purchase? That is left to be told – but we can expect the answer - soon.