Systematic Review - Network for Business Sustainability

• Being prepared to innovate further: perfecting (not
optimizing) the existing product; being prepared
to listen to and to “feed-forward” as opposed to
providing feedback — notice the signals emerging
from outside the company
• Understanding and preparing for the learning curve:
harnessing the need to be adaptable and flexible to
allow room for growing in a new way
• Exerting intergenerational responsibility
One example of these principles is Terracycle, 14 a
company whose purpose is to eliminate waste by
providing recycling systems for previously non-recyclable
or hard-to-recycle waste and converting these waste
products into products.
Are these utopian ideals? Certainly they are challenging
and although the principles can be applied at a product
level, they work best when supported by the whole
company. While only a few firms are actively pursuing
this approach, the numbers are increasing and
include Dutch carpet maker Desso; Van Gansewinkel,
waste-management and nutrient-providing company;
and Orangebox, a Welsh office furniture company
(McDonough & Braungart, 2002). The following cases
illustrate some of the associated challenges and benefits.
14 See http://www.terracycle.net/
In Practice
The CEO of carpet manufacturer Desso,
Stef Kranendijk, determined to make
sustainability a critical differentiating factor
in the eyes of customers. This strategy was
to be underpinned by a cradle-to-cradle
orientation. Desso had already implemented
several sustainable initiatives, such as
reducing energy use, but these had been
largely cost-driven, not sustainability-driven.
Embracing the cradle-to-cradle approach
involved significantly larger commitments
than Desso’s previous sustainability
initiatives. For example, the cradle-to-cradle
strategy required producing easy-todisassemble
goods made of non-hazardous
raw materials. Most raw materials being
used across the industry at the time,
however, were not even close to satisfying
these strict criteria. The company needed to
rigorously analyze all its raw materials and
discard those that did not meet the criteria.
Doing so involved significant costs and a
radical redesign and re-conceptualization of
product development and manufacturing.
Adapted from Ioannou and Ody-Brasier
(2011: 5).
Innovating for Sustainability 46