Manufacturing is a critical pillar of the economy, and it’s important to make sure that this sector is sustainable. Unfortunately, many traditional manufacturing processes are harmful to the environment; other than being non-sustainable, these processes may cause irreparable damage to the environment. Luckily, green alternatives are now helping manufacturing industries run in an eco-friendly way. In this beginner’s guide to green manufacturing, we’ll explore some of the most popular green alternatives and how they can benefit your business.
What Is Green Manufacturing?
Green manufacturing, or sustainable manufacturing, is the process of creating products in a way that does not damage the environment. This can be done by employing eco-friendly techniques and materials on the production line and reducing waste and emissions.
In the manufacturing industry, this can be applied in various forms—from creating an entirely new product that has sustainable benefits to customers (like eco-friendly building materials) to simply switching out a harmful chemical with an organic alternative.
Implementation of Green Manufacturing
Various countries have implemented green manufacturing in different ways, but for a beginner’s guide to green manufacturing, below are some general steps that you can take to get your business on the road to sustainability.
Assessment and Evaluation
It’s important that you first evaluate and assess your business to understand where it stands in terms of emissions, waste, and sustainability. While a full audit can easily be carried out by an outside company or third party, you might want to do some preliminary assessment yourself.
Green Alternatives
After you have evaluated your business and assessed the areas that need improvement, it’s time to investigate green alternatives. Green alternatives are methods or materials that can be used in production lines with a lower environmental impact than traditional methods or no negative impact.
A few popular green alternatives include:
- Recycling and waste reduction—this can be done through measures like using recycled materials in production, or by employees separating recyclables from non-recyclable waste.
- Renewable energy sources—these are energy sources that come from natural resources and can be replenished, such as solar or wind power.
- Eco-friendly chemicals—this is explicitly geared towards chemical manufacturers: to use organic and sustainable chemicals that can be used in place of harmful ones, if possible.
- Process improvement—making slight changes to the production process, like shortening the line or using more energy-efficient machines, can have a large impact on emissions and waste.
Implementation and Evaluation of Green Alternatives
After you have decided on the green alternatives that will work best for your business, it’s time to implement them in the production line. This should come with its own set of assessments—such as checking energy consumption or emissions before and after the implementation of each green alternative—to evaluate whether the changes you made were successful.
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