12 Dec 11 The Green Portfolio Project
The Green Portfolio Program was created in 2008 to try and reduce waste of products and energy by the company Kohlberg Kravis Robers & Co. (KKR). Ken Mehlman began this project and it had early success leading to breakthroughs into markets outside of the United States. Currently two companies are participating in the program outside the U.S. which makes it a Global portfolio.
This program has only been running for two years but has already saved approximately 16 million dollars. The first companies to be involved with Ken Mehlman and KKR were Sealy, U.S. Foodservice, and Primedia. These trailblazing companies accumulated the over 16 million in savings which sparked the interest of many more companies.
To join the program this year will be companies such as: Dollar General, SunGard Data Systems, Biomet Inc., and Accelent Inc. The way the businesses are saving money is by eliminating unnecessary chemical use, paper use, energy use, and water consumption. These areas not only decrease the amount of waste the impact of the environment but also save the companies a great deal of money on their bottom lines. The financial incentives alone were enough to get more companies on board with the Green Portfolio Project. These companies can now market themselves as environmentally friendly businesses with a strong interest is conserving resources and eliminating waste.
Ken Mehlman is the spokesperson for the organization KKR and is a strong leader when it comes to good business and what is good for the environment. He believes there is a connection between how the environment is doing and how the business is doing. One cannot truly succeed while the other is directly failing as a result. This philosophy appears to be gaining popularity and support as new metrics of measurement are being made and results are being published.
The news of how the company performed in 2009 should be coming out fairly soon. With the addition of the several other companies this year the savings figure is rumored to be even greater than in 2008. It is unfathomable to think that a company that spends 20% of its portfolio on the green portfolio project is seeing such a high return on their investment. It truly pays to factor the environment into business decisions. What’s good for mother earth seems to be good for business ventures.
