Greening the Manufacturing Function

nvironmentalism is no longer an issue of reluctant compliance with regulatory requirements. In the last decade, it has increasingly emerged as a potential mechanism for gaining competitive advantage and has become an important aspect of strategic management. Being environmentally conscious involves detailed attention to a variety of issues, such as energy conservation, pollution prevention, and avoidance of ecological degradation. Our current levels of resource consumption and waste generation are unsustainable in the long run. A 1987 report by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) warns that current environmental trends threaten to radically alter the planet and many species upon it, including the human species. The transition from an agricultural to an industrial civilization is accompanied by increasing exploitation of scarce resources and destruction of the natural environment at an alarming rate. Industrial production technology has traditionally focused on improving the quality and quantity of production with little attention paid to environmental or social costs. The growth in environmental consciousness has led to a significant change in this attitude, and – willingly or otherwise – businesses are now forced to confront the consequences of their actions. Modern technology offers the promise of dramatically changing the products we use, how we use them, and how they are made.