Sustainability has been one of the most popular buzzwords of the past decade and promises to remain relevant for many more years to come. Scientists, politicians, industry leaders, and even the general public routinely urge - and in more recent years, demand - that manufacturing companies become ‘sustainable’ and minimize the impact of their operations on the environment.

With so many definitions offered up for this word, it can be difficult for manufacturers to understand what sustainability means, why it should be a central concern for them, and how they should approach the challenge of becoming sustainable.

According to Sarah King, a senior research consultant at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), “sustainable manufacturing is all about being resource-efficient, and that can be about reducing costs, which can be about reducing the number of materials from an input perspective or reducing the cost in terms of disposal costs”.

Professor Roy Green, former Dean of UTS (University of Technology, Sydney) Business School, provides a similar explanation: “For me, sustainable manufacturing is made up of two interdependent parts, by applying energy efficiency and reuse concepts to the manufacturing process you also contribute to its long term viability”.

These definitions significantly narrow down the all-encompassing nature of the term ‘sustainability’ to two important ideas: making more efficient use of energy and other inputs, and eliminating wastage of resources throughout the value chain.

However, as any manufacturer would point out, pursuing either of these goals would require a significant amount of investment. So the question to ask is, what makes this investment important, or necessary, for manufacturers all over Australia?

Why Is Sustainability Important?

Investing in sustainability is now more than just a case of preserving natural resources and limiting the harm we cause to our environment. As expressed by Jeff Connolly, the CEO of Siemens Australia and NZ, sustainability is ultimately about competitiveness.

To remain competitive on the national and global stage in the long run, manufacturers will have to keep up with the pace of technological progress, adopt sustainable practices to remain profitable, and appeal to an increasingly environment-conscious consumer base.

As the prices of natural resources rise and governments impose greater environmental responsibility on manufacturers in the form of carbon taxes, zero-waste policies, and clean energy targets, only those who can innovate through these constraints will be able to make any profits.

How Are Manufacturers Achieving Sustainability?

Many companies in Australia have already taken up the challenge of sustainability and are pioneering new methods and processes to use resources efficiently and limit their impact on the environment. 

We can look towards the work these companies are doing to understand major sustainability challenges and how these can be tackled by the manufacturing industry.

Manufacturing waste-free curved concrete

Curved structures in buildings and other infrastructure look appealing, but the traditional process used to produce curved concrete leaves behind a lot of wasted material and labor since a new formwork (or mold) must be designed and developed for every application.

Based out of Melbourne, Curvecrete has developed a manufacturing process, using fit-for-purpose robotic technologies, that can produce curved concrete panels with zero waste and negligible carbon emissions.

Having received a $320,000+ grant from the federal government, the company is now developing a pilot manufacturing facility in Melbourne to scale the production of its sustainably-produced curved panels and bring them at cost parity with flat panels.

Eliminating single-use plastics

The extensive use of non-biodegradable plastic for packaging and other products has choked the health of our oceans and the marine life that inhabits them. According to research, as much as a garbage truck’s capacity of plastic is dumped into our oceans every minute.

Fortunately, companies all over the world (including in Australia) are leading the charge to tackle this problem and develop reusable and biodegradable plastic that can be used for all kinds of packaging needs.

Corporations like Nestle and Unilever have already publicly announced their commitment to making 100% of their plastic packaging reusable, recyclable, or even compostable by 2025. Plantic Technologies, an Australian-based company, has recently developed innovative bio-plastic materials for packaging that use only half the energy required for producing traditional fossil fuel plastics.

Making the use of plastic sustainable is a crucial challenge that every manufacturer must address head-on, or risk losing their competitiveness in the long run.

Reducing food waste

The food and beverage manufacturing sector of Australia currently wastes a lot of edible food - a staggering 40% of fresh produce from Australian farms is rejected even before it reaches supermarket shelves.

Several manufacturers are mitigating this issue by using by-products (that would otherwise get wasted) to create other valuable products. 

For example, Hartshorn Distillery, a cheese-producing business based out of Tasmania, produces alcoholic beverages such as gin and vodka from sheep whey, a by-product of the cheese-making process. Similarly, banana farmers from Queensland Tablelands have started making a range of gluten-free green banana flour products from their banana seconds.

No Longer A Choice

The move towards sustainability is no longer a matter of choice for Australian manufacturers. To remain competitive in the future, companies will have to develop sustainable ways of conducting business and producing goods.

As companies invest in innovative ventures towards this goal, Segen is proud to partner with and provide recruitment solutions for companies that take action and form strong foundations of sustainability.