Why it pays to go green when you run a manufacturing plant

Passionate is the debate about the manufacturing's efforts and abilities to "go green." Politicians are quick to assign the government with the responsibility to assign funds to those manufacturers who are willing to transition their plants into organizations more conscious of environmental effects and preservation. It is where the money is to come from to sponsor the greening of the manufacturing industry that becomes the real issue. One politician has pushed for what she called the creation of a Strategic Energy Fund. The Strategic Energy Fund would create "green collar" jobs in the manufacturing industry, thus boosting low employment rates and improving energy efficient technology. This fund is proposed to be funded by a tax on oil companies, however with the proposed total contribution of the fund at about $50 billion, you can bet that oil companies are not going to be thrilled with such a proposal.

The question of turning a company green is really a matter of money. The only reason why a manufacturing plant would resist the implementation of green technology is because of the costs that are associated with recreating the manufacturing process of an entire manufacturing plant. In some respects it is like starting the company over form scratch. With the government already forcing manufacturing industries to comply with more environmentally friendly standards, the financial stress to go above and beyond government legislation is just too high. Take the new Clean Air Act for example. The Clean Air Act forced many already struggling manufacturing companies to make expensive changes. As was briefly alluded to earlier, the most common way to reduce costs in the manufacturing industry is through layoffs.

So what are the real costs of going green? Well for many manufacturing plants it is a choice between being more environmentally responsible and allowing employees to keep their jobs. Many companies cannot afford to do both. No reasonable business person would disagree that it is advantageous to keep the air clean and the environment healthy. Yet in terms of dollars and cents it is not easy as environmental advocates would like people to believe.

The petroleum debate is an excellent example that proponents of green living use to illustrate why it pays to go green when you run a manufacturing plant. One side of the argument claims that costs can be reduced on buying fuel from abroad if we are able to supply the needs of our country within our own borders. Also the craze for fuel derived from corn seems like a very popular and sensible way to conserve energy and personal fuel costs. There is always another side of the argument. And, unfortunately, according to recent research the process used to make the PHA, or corn derived fuel for the manufacturing of plastics, consumes nineteen times more electricity, twenty two percent more steam, and seven times more water than the traditional chemical method of manufacturing.

Of course the battle for energy efficiency and production that is not harmful to the environment will continue. Processes of going green have definitely come a long way and many are excited about the possibilities that exist for future generations of manufacturers. Ultimately it pays to go green when you run a manufacturing plant today because of the positive feedback received from environmentally conscious consumers and the increase in awareness and sales because of it. And as processes of green production become more streamline and research and development dollars can be applied elsewhere, a totally green manufacturing plant will benefit from renewable and reusable resources and the cost savings therein. Future financial rewards offer incentives to make significant investments towards going green today.

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Why it pays to go green when you run a manufacturing plant