Finding a Consistent, Practical Definition of Sustainability

The immediate challenge for management is working with individual customers who have enacted written corporate sustainability policies with which you will be required to comply. A brief survey of consumer product manufacturers websites in 2012 revealed that there is a very broad range of positions, from virtually no sustainability policies to very detailed ones. Proctor Gamble (P G) is an excellent example of the latter. Most of P G s focus is on the polymers used for disposable products and packaging indeed, this particular end-use focus is true for the great majority of companies where sustainability is an important issue. 

P G identifies itself as the largest consumer-packaged goods company in the world today, and has drawn up long-term goals that include using 100% recycled or renewable materials for all of its products and packaging. It fm-ther defines these terms on its website as follows  

While this example demonstrates that P G has a very specific vision of what they wish to accomplish under the general heading of sustainable, it also shows that P G has incorporated several very challenging conditions not usually found in most similar mission statements. For example. 

Unfortunately, there are almost as many definitions of sustainability as there are companies that see a need to comment on the concept. Therefore, fhe besf policy is to be cautious when discussing this topic with actual or potential customers and ensure that both you and your customer are talking about the same thing before making any commitments. 

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