Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 29, 1995 TAG: 9501270032
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN MCCUE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Now they're telling us to recycle at work - cardboard boxes, shipping pallets, scrap metal, machinery oil, hazardous waste, paper, you name it.
The environmental craze has gripped corporate America, or at least it has a firm hold. After many years of reluctance, and sometimes downright resistance, more U.S. companies are giving top priority to environmental responsibilities.
So found Price Waterhouse, a corporate consulting firm based in New York City who recently completed its third bi-annual survey of industries.
More companies are establishing green programs, doing more self-policing and revealing costs of environmental cleanup, and more top managers are becoming closely involved with their companies' environmental policies, the 1994 survey found.
"The growing cost of environmental compliance and the increasing attention of regulators, shareholders and the general public have made companies more proactive ... " said Dean Petracca, a partner and head of Price Waterhouse's environmental services group.
"Businesses today are trying to do more with less." In that context, Petracca said, when a board of directors or top executives take oversight of environmental programs, they're serious about being green.
The survey of 445 companies showed that more than 40 percent have elevated oversight of environmental compliance to the board level. That's nearly double the number from Price Waterhouse's 1992 survey, and triple its 1990 survey.
And more companies are disclosing information about environmental liabilities, due partly to better accounting practices, and partly to investor demands.
Most companies, if they've been around for any length of time, have some degree of cleanup to do because environmental laws were much more lax a decade ago. "Just because a company has environmental cleanup to do doesn't mean it's a bad company," Petracca said.
But if a company's past practices resulted in massive cleanup requirements, "that's a significant use of funds that are not productive in terms of business growth," Petracca said - crucial information for potential investors.
The survey also found that 73 percent of U.S. companies conduct environmental audits, up from 40 percent two years ago. Auditors check for compliance with air, water and waste disposal laws, and help companies catch problems before regulators do.
More intensive audits can result in proactive ways to save the environment, and money by finding ways to reduce energy use, waste and raw materials.
A number of Southwest Virginia companies seem to fit Price Waterhouse's profile of an environmentally minded business.
General Electric Drive Systems, in Salem, is one.
"We have a target goal of zero discharge at Drive Systems," Michael Allee, manager of communications, said. "That's an extremely lofty goal to set for ourselves," he admits, but the company is moving swiftly to meet it.
In 1993, the plant recycled or reused 98 percent of its hazardous waste. In the last two years, it reduced water use by 60 percent, and found a way to reuse most of its processing water. The company also reduced air emissions, and spent millions to install cleaner manufacturing processes.
Each year, an "outside" team of employees from the corporation comes in for a "wall-to-wall" environmental and worker safety audit of the plant.
To emphasize his plant's commitment, Allee quoted, in full, the business mission statement: "To be the leading worldwide supplier of drive systems without negatively impacting the environment or people's health and safety." Period.
ITT Corp. is also making strides. Don Hershey, vice president and diretor of human resources, said its two factories in Roanoke County periodically audit for ways to reduce waste and ensure compliance with environmental laws.
John Thompson, Roanoke office manager with Law Engineering and Environmental Services, Inc., said the number of companies requesting audits is definitely on the rise. And so is the attention level of plant managers.
"Local industrial people we're talking with are much, much, much more educated than they were five, six years ago," Thompson said. It used to be when he'd sit down with mangers that they were skeptical, reserved, like they were being sold something they didn't need.
Since then, almost every business has had some run-in with environmental requirements, and have come to recognize the benefit of getting ahead of the game, Thompson said.
Petracca, with Price Waterhouse, said that the dramatic, and continued greening of corporate America, as evidenced by his survey results, show that companies realize their environmental responsibilities are an ongoing cost of doing business today.
As for tomorrow - with the GOP at the helm of Congress and many state legislatures talking about paring down environmental laws, and a growing "environmental backlash" movement at the grassroots level - Petracca declined to speculate.
by CNB