Novemeber Meeting

Tuesday November 20, 2012

Measuring and Communicating

Sustainability

Through Eco-Efficiency Analysis

 

 

Abstract:

Many companies have realized the importance of sustainability as a critical business success factor – that what is good for the environment and society can also be good for their financial bottom line.  By prioritizing sustainability as a key strategic focus and managing it similar to other parts of the business, such as marketing and sales, leading companies have been able to better identify and manage risks, enhance brand value and corporate reputation, and, more importantly, facilitate clear, measurable value creation throughout the supply chain. 

Sustainable development has been defined as the balance of economic success, ecological protection, and social responsibility.  To effectively manage sustainability, a company must be able to measure or otherwise quantify sustainabilty in each of those pillars.  Eco-efficiency analysis (EEA) harmonizes two of these pillars – the economy and the environment, EEA is a comprehensive, science-based approach that provides information about the relationship between a product’s or technology’s economic benefits and its impacts on the environment along the entire supply chain and throughout all of its lifecycle stages. 

BASF has completed more than 400 EEA studies for a diverse range of products, including chemical intermediates, consumer and personal-care products, vitamins, packaging materials, adhesives, and renewable based products.  As a strategic tool, EEA provides the necessary data to support internal investment and product portfolio decisions.  Just as importantly, it helps customers and other external stakeholders manage the proliferation of eco-confusion by presenting a large amount of complex data in a clear and easily understood manner. 

 

About the Speaker:

Bruce Uhlman has over eighteen years experience in engineering, manufacturing, research & development and sustainability.  Bruce has several years of international work experience with specific expertise in the areas of process and project engineering, technology commercialization and life cycle assessment. More recently he has worked in the areas of life cycle assessment and life cycle costing, and has performed eco-efficiency and total cost of ownership studies on a broad range of end consumer products and industrial processes.   Bruce partners with BASF’s many business units and customers in helping them understand and measure sustainability throughout their value chain and help them integrate the results of sustainability studies into their strategic decision making processes and stakeholder communications. 

Bruce speaks frequently on sustainability and life cycle assessment and has published many articles on these topics.

Bruce has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering fromVillanovaUniversity, is a member of theAmericanCenterfor Life Cycle Assessment and is a Certified LCA Practitioner.

 

Date
Tuesday November 20, 2012

Agenda  
                                    Registration           6:00 PM 
                                    Dinner                    6:30 PM 
                                    Program                 7:30 PM
Location
Snuffy’s Restaurant
Mountain and Park Avenues, Scotch Plains

Price
Members and Guests …………………..………..$30

Unemployed/Retired Section members…. $15
Students………………………………………………No Charge

Reservations
Call Andy Soos at (908) 604-2670 or e-mail at rsvp@njaiche.org by Friday 11/16/12. 

Executive Committee Meeting

The Executive Committee meeting for November will be held on the 13 th at Paisano’s Pizza at 6:30 pm. All members are welcome.

Sponsorship

Some meetings of NJAIChE have been sponsored. If you would like to sponsor this meeting or a future meeting please let us know.  Many levels of sponsorship are available.

Future Meetings

Have you heard someone speak that would be of interest to our group?  Would you like to speak?  We’re interested in both technical and general interest presentations. Let us know.