EMBEDDED
SUSTAINABILITY
SUBMITTED BY :
Sambeet Mallick(UM16366)
SEC: F
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1
Sustainable development is the organizing principle for meeting human development goals while
at the same time sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural
resources and ecosystem services upon which the economy and society depends. The desirable
end result is a state of society where living conditions and resource use continue to meet human
needs without undermining the integrity and stability of the natural systems.
Sustainability can be defined as the practice of maintaining processes of productivity indefinitely
natural or human madeby replacing resources used with resources of equal or greater value
without degrading or endangering natural biotic systems. Sustainable development ties together
concern for the carrying capacity of natural systems with the social, political, and economic
challenges faced by humanity. Sustainability science is the study of the concepts of sustainable
development and environmental science. There is an additional focus on the present generations
responsibility to regenerate, maintain and improve planetary resources for use by future
generations.
WHAT IS EMBEDDED SUSTAINABILITY?
Embedded Sustainability is the incorporation of environ- mental, health, and social value into
the core business with no trade-off in price or quality in other words, with no social or green
premium.
WHY THE NEED FOR EMBEDDED SUSTAINABILITY ARISES?
In recent years three big trends declining resources, radical transparency, and increasing
expectations have re-defined the way companies compete. The linear throw-away economy, in
which products and services follow a one-way trajectory from extraction to use and disposal, can
no longer be supported, as we are simply running out of things to unearth and place to landfill.
Consumers, employees, and investors are beginning to demand socially and environmentally-
savvy products without compromise, while radical transparency is putting every company under
a microscope.
With a new set of pressures on hand, what is business to do? We are not talking about the Body
Shops and Ethical Banks of this world but rather the Unilevers and HSBCs: industry leaders
pursuing middle-of-the-road customers, who find themselves often blind-sided by ecological and
social burdens. So, how are we as business unit and functional managers to treat social, health
and environmental demands in the mainstream?
There are many managers who still go with familiar approaches, treating these new pressures as
annoying obligations and merely tipping their hats to corporate social responsibility. While many
more now recognize social and environmental performance as business opportunity, most
continue to bolt it on to existing strategy and operations.
1 http://www.europeanfinancialreview.com/?p=2927
Only a handful are choosing to embed sustainability into the very DNA of what they do,
incorporating environmental, health, and social value into core business activities with no trade-o
s in price or quality. They are learning to leverage global challenges, such as climate stability, for
enduring profit and growth. Through innovation in product design, process and business model
these pioneers are creating even more value for their customers and investors than they would
otherwise.
DRIVERS AND FACILITATORS FOR EMBEDDED SUSTAINABILITY
Declining resources
Radical transparency
- The power of numbers (civil society).
- The magic of low-cost communication.
- The culture of connectivity.
Increasing expectations.
- The customer rising.
- The employee engaging
- The investor calling
THE WAY FORWARD
Embedding sustainability is a complex, multi-activity and multi-actor challenge; no simple
recipes are possible. Unlike the streamlined and often linear steps taken for bolt -on
sustainability e orts, the task of embedding social and environmental value into the DNA of a
business is iterative, repetitive and chaotic. It demands new thinking and unorthodox solutions
that can spring from unlikely sources and in improbably ways. Having said this, the experience
of market leaders suggests four interdependent and interconnected lines of action to help guide
the journey:
Getting the Right Start: mobilizing, educating, and acting around speci c low hanging
fruits. Building momentum in the organization for sustainability projects that support
existing business priorities and provide demonstrable pay-o .
Building the Buy-In: aligning company, value chain, and all other stakeholders
around the vision of embedded sustainability.
Moving from Incremental to Breakthrough: developing clear but unorthodox
goals, designing the strategy and capturing value through co-creation and
innovation.
Staying with It: managing learning and energy while making sustainability ubiquitous
but largely invisible in the business practice.
Engagement of one business unit after another demands a right start; new action calls for
education and training, while building true buy-in remains a daily task. Many low hanging
fruit are pursued and harvested before companies are even ready to play with let alone
design a masterful embedded sustainability business strategy.
THE SUSTAINABLE VALUE FRAMEWORK
There are four core dimensions of sustainability strategy with different linkages to firm
performance and value creation.
Pollution Prevention: minimizing waste and emissions from current facilities and operations;
Product Stewardship: engaging stakeholders and managing the full life cycle of
todays products;
Clean Technology: developing and deploying next-generation clean technologies; and
Base of the Pyramid: co-creating new businesses to serve the unmet needs of the poor
and underserved.
Taken together as a portfolio, these strategies and practices hold the potential to:
reduce cost and risk (pollution prevention);
enhance reputation and legitimacy (product stewardship);
accelerate innovation and repositioning (clean technology); and
crystallize growth path and trajectory (base of the pyramid)
all of which are crucial to the creation of shareholder value. The challenge for the firm is to
decide which actions and initiatives to pursue, and how best to manage them.
Companies can begin by taking stock of each component through what we call
their sustainable value portfolio. This simple diagnostic tool can help any company or business
determine whether its strategy has the potential to truly create sustainable value.
Sustainable value creation
At each level of sustainable value creation, managers need to ask a different set of questions.
Mitigating risk is about avoiding value destruction by managing potential costly liabilities. At the
efficiency level, the query is into operational excellence: how can embedded sustainability contribute
to greater savings along the lifecycle value chain? At the product differentiation level, the inquiry
concerns consumer expectations and how these are changing to incorporate ever greater
environmental, health and social attributes. In terms of new market opportunities, the probe is into
business models: how can businesses and pro table solutions to global problems? One such new
market/ business model example is that of meeting the unmet needs of poor consumers in emerging
markets, as with Muhammed Yunus and his Grameen Bank model of unsecured micro-credit. At the
level of image and reputation, the interrogation goes to the core identity of the company: to what
extent are social and ecological goals parts of its mission or culture? At the level of business context,
it is about shaping government regulations or industry standards that favor the market leaders over
the competition.
Whatever the sustainability project or company-wide initiative, managers can bene t from
assessing, and acting on, its value creating potential at these multiple levels.
EMBEDDED SUSTAINABILITY AT UNILEVER
Unilever is integrating sustainability into their brands and constantly innovating to help drive
business growth. They work with their customers and suppliers, engaging employees and forging
new partnerships.
Unilever has developed a simple four-point framework to help capture the ways in which
sustainability contributes to the business success.
2https://www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/the-sustainable-living-
plan/ourstrategy/embedding-sustainability/
More growth
Consumers are responding to the campaigns by brands such as Omo, Breyers and Hellmanns on
issues ranging from water scarcity to sustainable sourcing. Their interest and engagement is
translating into sales growth and greater brand awareness. Sustainable Living brands accounted for
nearly half of their growth in 2015 and grew faster than the rest of their business.
Sustainability creates innovation opportunities, pushing us to re -think product design in a world
of finite resources to address specific social and environmental issues. It opens up new markets
and allows our brands to connect with consumers in different ways to meet their changing needs.
Lower costs
Unilever by cutting waste and reducing use of energy, raw materials and natural resources,
created efficiency and reduced costs, while becoming less exposed to the volatility of resource
prices. Cost avoidance and savings help them to improve margins.
It has achieved cumulative cost avoidance of over 600m through eco-efficiency in its factories
since 2008. Their waste manufacturing programme alone has contributed around 250 millions
of cost benefits and created hundreds of jobs.
Less risk
Sustainable ways of doing business help unilever to mitigate risk across operations. Operating
sustainably helps to futureproof their supply chain against the risks associated with climate
change and long-term sourcing of raw materials.
By 2015, 60% of unilevers agricultural raw materials were sustainably sourced.
More trust
Placing sustainability at the heart of their business model strengthens relationships with
stakeholders and helps in succeeding as a business. It helps to maintain value and relevance to
consumers, whilst inspiring Unilevers current and future employees.
In 2015, they maintained their status as the Graduate Employer of Choice in the fast-moving
consumer goods sector among our target universities across 34 countries.
Unilevers Sustainable Living brands: purpose and product in action
Domestos
Purpose: To help 25 million people gain improved access to a toilet by 2020 by promoting the
benefits of using clean toilets and by making toilets accessible.
Product: We have reduced the plastic used for our Domestos bottles by up to 15%, making them
lighter yet maintaining their strength. Once rolled out across the range worldwide, this will save
around 1,000 tonnes of plastic a year.
Dove
Purpose: To make beauty a source of confidence not anxiety for women everywhere by reaching
over 15 million young people with our Dove Self-Esteem Project.
Product: Dove was one of our first brands to introduce compressed aerosol deodorants in 2013.
Consumers can enjoy the same protection and fragrance in the same spray time as before, but in a can
half the size. This innovation cuts the carbon footprint per can by about 25%.
Knorr
Purpose: To unlock flavour and goodness from everyday food from Farm - through sourcing
100% of ingredients sustainably - to Fork, through nutritious cooking.
Product: Already 92% of the top 13 vegetables and herbs used in Knorr sauces, soups and
seasonings are grown sustainably, and a sustainably grown label on pack is making it easier for
people to make responsible choices in the supermarket.
Lipton
Purpose: Lipton supports farmers by working to improve their livelihoods and those of their
families while protecting the planet for the future.3
Product: By the end of 2015, all the tea for our Lipton tea bag blends was sourced from
Rainforest Alliance CertifiedTM estates, a major step for the worlds biggest tea brand.
EMBEDDED SUSTAINABILITY AT DUPONT
On November 18,2015 Dupont announced its 2020 Sustainability Goals as the next step in its
more than 25-year commitment to sustainability. The centerpiece of the new DuPont 2020
Sustainability Goals is a company wide commitment to embed sustainability into its innovation
process and R&D pipeline.
The new 2020 goals further a progressive and comprehensive sustainability strategy at DuPont,
which now also includes DuPonts Food Security Goals, along with updated footprint goals
addressing greenhouse gases, energy, water and waste that build on a longstanding focus to
reduce the impacts of company operation
Creating Cellulosic Ethanol from Crop Waste
Oct. 30, 2015 DuPont celebrated the opening of its cellulosic biofuel facility in Nevada, Iowa.
This bio-refinery is the worlds largest cellulosic ethanol plant, with the capacity to produce 30
million gallons per year of clean fuel that offers a 90 percent reduction in greenhouse gas
3 http://foodsecurity.dupont.com/2013/04/19/how-science-can-help-china-meet-its-food-
security-goals/
emissions as compared to gasoline. The raw material used to produce the ethanol is corn stover
the stalks, leaves and cobs left in a field after harvest. The facility will demonstrate at4
5
commercial scale that non-fo 6od feedstocks from agriculture can be the renewable raw material
to power the future energy demands of society. Cellulosic ethanol will further diversify the
transportation fuel mix just as wind and solar are expanding the renewable options for power
generation.
DuPont brings an unparalleled combination of science competencies and almost 90 years of
agronomy expertise in Iowa to develop both a pioneering clean fuel and biomass supply chain.
Vital to the supply chain and the entire operation of the Nevada bio-refinery are close to 500
local farmers, who will provide the annual 375,000 dry tons of stover needed to produce this
cellulosic ethanol from within a 30-mile radius of the facility. In addition to providing a brand-
new revenue stream for these growers, the plant will create 85 full-time jobs at the plant and
more than 150 seasonal local jobs in Iowa.
DuPonts Cellulosic Technology Positioned to Transform Transportation Energy Supply with 90
Percent Cleaner Fuel from Biomass
Packagings Contribution to Reducing Food Waste
Working with Cargloux, DuPont developed DuPont Tyvek Air Cargo covers to help protect
perishables and reduce food waste during transit. We reveal how DuPont and Cargolux have
combined their knowledge and expertise to reduce one of the key causes of food waste, ensuring
that fresh food products are now available to emerging markets in Africa, opening new horizons
and creating new opportunities.
The DuPont Tyvek Air Cargo cover provides thermal protection from solar radiation,
reducing the damaging effects of the baking heat encountered on the tarmac of Accra airport.
Thus, a DuPont Tyvek Air Cargo cover consignment will keep goods up to 15.4 degrees
cooler in a hot environment.
A Healthy Solution to Food Security
With 19% of the worlds population, but just 7% of the worlds farmland, China faces a
monumental challenge to establish a sustainable food system. Food security in China means
4http://www.dupont.com/corporate-functions/media-center/press-releases/dupont-
celebrates-opening-of-worlds-largest-cellulosic-ethanol-plant.html
5
6http://www.dupont.com/corporate-functions/media-center/press-releases/dupont-
announces-2020-sustainability-goals.html
improving every part of the food chain from sustainable farming practices to availability and
nutrition to safety and waste reduction.
DuPont, together with government and business partners is helping China to provide locally
grown solutions that deliver long-term sustainability. DuPont is committing $10 billion globaly
to R&D and introducing 4,000 new products that will meet local needs for better nutrition,
sustainability and safety by 2020.
DuPont Pioneer and the local Department of Agriculture in India have collaborated to provide
rice farming training programs around the state of Uttar Pradesh. These schools promote
sustainable farming methods, through free education and science, to local farmers, helping to
increase yields, secure a sustainable supply of food for the population of Uttar Pradesh, and
ultimately increase Indias food security.
CONCLUSION
The adoption of a sustainability program can create a significant number of benefits for your
company. Indeed, the primary reason many corporations pursue sustainability is that it makes
good business senseit is a business strategy to enhance value, lower costs and strengthen its
competitive position
7 http://www.dupont.com/corporate-functions/our-approach/global-
challenges/articles/collaborative-solutions-in-china/articles/food-security-china.html
