E227 Global Solutions' corporate social responsibility initiatives include environmental conservation efforts.
The corporation must lower its carbon footprint by 25%. This paper proposes a strategy for the firm's leadership to use in order to achieve its environmental conservation goals. Recycling garbage provides numerous advantages for both the firm and its various stakeholders. Compared to other alternatives, the proposed strategy is the most appropriate and efficient.
Proposal to Reduce Carbon Emission
All over the globe, concerns about the increasing levels of harm that modern organizations pose to the environment have been prevalent. There is need to ensure that companies invest in strategies and solutions that will enable them to reduce the amount and extent of harm caused by their operations to the planet's finite resources (Parry, 2012). It is against this background that the management of E227 Global Solutions has embarked on measures aimed at reducing the levels of pollution associated with the firm. This paper details a proposal discussing the recommended strategy to be used by the organization. In doing so, the exposition highlights the sources to be used in lend support to the proposed strategy, as well as the benefits to be realized from implementing the plan and its related costs.
Background of the Problem
It came to the attention of E227 Global Solutions’ leadership that the amounts of environmental pollution associated with the company were at an all-time high. Thereupon, employees were requested to come up with proposals about how the firm could reduce its carbon footprint by up to 25 percent. This report, therefore, was prepared in response to this particular request, and it is intended to provide the management with the ideal strategy that the organization could use as part of the efforts aimed at embracing green initiatives. It is expected that the information contained herein will go a long way in helping the leadership adopt an effective strategy that could be used to realize the company’s objectives as far as conserving the environment is concerned. In this case, the ideal alternative would be to engage in the recycling of waste material.
Statement of Purpose
The primary objective of this research proposal is to provide the division manager, as well as other members of the top-level management team, with information detailing the basics concerning the recommended strategy to be used for sustainability purposes.
Recommended Strategy
The proposed plan involves recycling materials that would otherwise be considered as waste. Rather than getting rid of such materials, the company could invest in techniques and technologies that would allow it to process the same into products that can be reused. Notably, the resources available on the planet are not infinite and, as such, their continuous use poses a risk of having to compete for minimal materials (Parry, 2012). There is a need to ensure that modern companies utilize such resources in a way that allows for their maximization while also reducing the burden that is placed on the environment.
Review of Literature
For purposes of gaining more insight into the proposed strategy, the research process involved consulting several sources. Notably, both qualitative and quantitative studies related to how the idea of recycling materials helps conserve the environment were examined in detail. Some of these sources include content drawn from peer-reviewed scholarly articles, periodicals, and books written by renowned experts on the subject.
It is worth noting that some of these publications are concerned with the kind of techniques that contemporary organizations can use as part of efforts aimed at reducing or eliminating sources of waste. For instance, Eltayeb, Zailani, and Ramayah in 2011 observed that the leaderships of modern companies could pursue a variety of methods and use the same to get rid of unnecessary sources of waste. Similarly, Dangelico and Pujari in 2010 noted that a majority of modern firms have to deal with several types of materials that can easily be recycled rather than being discarded into the environment.
The research process also involved an explication of contemporary literature related with some of the companies that have managed to integrate waste recycling into their operations with success. For example, a look at the work written by Zhu, Geng, Fujita and Hashimoto (2010) provided valuable insight about how multinational corporations having subsidiaries in Japan have managed to use the proposed strategy in minimizing the harm caused by their operations to the environment. Such information can be used to determine the ideal ways through which E227 Global Solution can approach the whole idea of recycling waste materials.
Other sources such as the work prepared by Dangelico and Pontrandolfo in 2010 help to shed more light about the statistics associated with organizations that engage in recycling efforts. At the moment, companies all over the world are investing in various techniques that are aimed at portraying them as being interested in more than just making a profit. E227 Global Solutions could also adopt this approach as one way of assuring the members of the communities in which the firm operates that it is committed to pursuing other useful objectives aside from profit-making. Having such a strategy would enable the company to attain its corporate social responsibility initiatives in an effective manner.
Discussion
This section contains information that provides an overview of the benefits and expenses associated with the idea of recycling waste material at E227 Global Solutions.
Benefits associated with Proposed Strategy
The benefits associated with recycling include the fact that the process would enable the firm to reuse material rather than disposing of the same. This ability would, in turn, allow the leadership to save on funds that would otherwise have been spent on acquiring additional resources (Sidique, Lupi & Joshi, 2010). Besides, the enterprise will be able to utilize a lesser amount of resources than as it was the case before investing in recycling efforts. The strategy also uses relatively less energy as compared to other alternatives, and its adoption would result in the company creating more employment opportunities for individuals who have specialized in the practice (Sidique et al., 2010).
Provided below is a graphical illustration showing some of the materials used by E227 Global Solutions and which can easily be recycled.
Costs Associated with Proposed Strategy
As discussed above, recycling is a relatively inexpensive option when compared to other alternatives that could be used to reduce the firm’s carbon footprint. However, it is worth noting that the implementation of the proposal will come at a cost and that the company will have to allocate adequate funds to cater for the same. Some of these expenses will go towards fueling the trucks to be used in transporting the materials to the point of recycling, while others will be used to procure the labor and fuel to be used in sorting and processing the materials (Sidique et al., 2010). Approximately, it will cost the firm between $20 and $70 for every ton of recyclables that is picked and transported to the final location.
Nevertheless, the organization will be able to save on costs that would otherwise have been spent on procuring additional resources. It is expected that the company will be able to save up to $20,000 during its first year after implementing the proposed strategy. This amount is expected to rise to $120,000 by the fourth year.
Provided below is a graphical illustration showing the estimated cost savings associated with recycling materials at E227 Global Solutions.
Conclusion and Recommendation
In sum, it is without a doubt that there is a need to reduce the organization’s carbon footprint. A variety of techniques could be used to attain this objective. However, at the moment, it is recommended that the firm’s management invests in technologies that would allow it to recycle materials for reuse. Compared to other alternatives, this approach is one of the easiest and also one of the most effective ways through which a modern company such as E227 Global Solutions could realize its goals related to environmental conservation. The strategy will not only enable the enterprise to reduce the burden that it places on non-renewable resources but it will also allow its leadership to save on considerable amounts of funds and energy. Rather than just disposing of material as soon as it has been utilized, the firm's employees could recycle the same into products that can be reused with significant efficiency. While the implementation of the strategy may come at an additional cost on the part of the company, it is expected that its benefits will outweigh such expenses by wide margins. Hence, it would be prudent for the top-level management team to consider the recycling of waste material as one of the ideal strategies through which the company could reduce its carbon footprint.
References
Dangelico, R. M., & Pontrandolfo, P. (2010). From green product definitions and classifications to the Green Option Matrix. Journal of Cleaner Production, 18(16), 1608-1628.
Dangelico, R. M., & Pujari, D. (2010). Mainstreaming green product innovation: Why and how companies integrate environmental sustainability. Journal of Business Ethics, 95(3), 471-486.
Eltayeb, T. K., Zailani, S., & Ramayah, T. (2011). Green supply chain initiatives among certified companies in Malaysia and environmental sustainability: Investigating the outcomes. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 55(5), 495-506.
Parry, S. (2012). Going green: the evolution of micro‐business environmental practices. Business Ethics: A European Review, 21(2), 220-237.
Sidique, S. F., Lupi, F., & Joshi, S. V. (2010). The effects of behavior and attitudes on drop-off recycling activities. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 54(3), 163-170.
Zhu, Q., Geng, Y., Fujita, T., & Hashimoto, S. (2010). Green supply chain management in leading manufacturers: Case studies in Japanese large companies. Management Research Review, 33(4), 380-392.
