Operations Management: An Integrated Approach, 5th Edition

THE SUSTAINABILITY LINK

Changes in product design can significantly improve environmental and social sustainability performance. These changes can include the use of materials, sourcing, and disposal, as well as process modifications that can reduce pollution. Sometimes these changes can be highly innovative. Other times they can be simple changes that the company simply overlooked. A good example is Nike Air basketball sneakers with their signature air bubble in the heel. The company only recently became aware that the pocket of the sneakers contained a gas known as sulphur hexafluoride, or SF6, which is actually a greenhouse gas. As part of Nike's sustainability initiative, Nike replaced SF6 with nitrogen, which breaks up more readily upon release and is not a greenhouse gas. This small change did not alter consumer perception of the product, nor cost the company money, but it offered a significant environmental impact.

Companies can also work on product design changes that can be highly innovative and bring sustainability leadership to the firm. An excellent example is offered by PepsiCo, the world's second largest food and beverage company. PepsiCo has worked to lower the environmental impact associated with petroleum-derived beverage bottles, which are composed of nonrenewable fossil fuels and carry huge environmental costs. In fact, it is these plastic bottles that litter public spaces and contribute the floating “garbage patches” that plague the world's oceans. First, the ...