Brunswick Corp. recently released its 2023 Sustainability Report, which details reductions in carbon emissions, energy consumption and water use, along with reaching zero-waste-to-landfill status at a record number of locations. Many of the achievements are a case study in how starting with one or two smart decisions — in ways that smaller companies can emulate — often creates benefits in multiple sustainability and other categories.
“By making some of these changes, especially related to new equipment, you’re not only reducing your carbon footprint, but you also get the benefit of improved uptime, potentially improved quality in your products, and improved product costs,” says Jennifer Koenig, Brunswick’s chief sustainability officer.
New equipment installations helped Brunswick to record a 6.3% improvement in Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon emissions, and an 8.2% improvement in scope 3 carbon emissions, Koenig says. Those categories are related to things such as burning fuel, using electricity and incorporating an eco-friendly supply chain.
The newly installed equipment is not only more efficient overall, she says, but it also cuts down on other problems, including reducing air compressor leakage and wasted energy. Brunswick achieved that last bit in part by training workers to shut down the equipment fully instead of letting it idle.
“If you think about a plant or even a computer, most of us just let it go to sleep at night. It’s not off. It’s still using energy,” Koenig says. “It’s got a little light on that’s glowing. It’s burning a teeny, little bit. If 100 people in your organization are doing the same thing, it adds up.”
One way to identify such opportunities is to bring in a third party for an energy audit. Some electric companies will do this for free, Koenig says. “That has happened at several of our facilities,” she says, adding that these experts are also a great information source about financial incentives. “They can tell you things like, ‘This equipment is rated X for energy efficiency. Newer equipment is rated Y.’ Generally, most of these opportunities have a return on investment.”
Between those types of moves and converting to LED lighting, Brunswick decreased electricity use at 56% of its facilities — with more than 20 facilities reducing by double digits.
Another way the company achieved its carbon-emissions reductions was by increasing the amount of recycled aluminum content in its boats and engines. “That reduced about 10% of the emissions in our raw-material supply chain,” Koenig says. “It didn’t affect quality. We don’t make these decisions lightly. There’s lots of testing.”
This type of change is something that all kinds of companies can do with various raw materials. In some cases, high-quality recycled versions of the materials didn’t exist even a few years ago. Researching the options periodically can reveal new opportunities, she says.
Making phone calls and asking questions also helped Brunswick achieve a 90% reduction of solid waste from operations to landfill at nine additional facilities, now totaling 22 facilities operating at a near-zero-waste-to-landfill level.
“This is about partnering with your community waste providers and understanding what’s available and cost-efficient in your market to recycle,” Koenig says.
Brunswick started with its warehouse and distribution locations, where items such as corrugated cardboard, wooden pallets and paper could be recycled. That change was not only good for the environment, but also resulted in cost savings.
“When you’re finding alternatives to landfills, generally, you’re paying less than your landfill costs,” she says. “You don’t always get paid for the material that gets recycled, but many times, you can reduce your waste costs by recycling.”
Another thing Brunswick has learned, she says, is that brands may have a good sustainability story to tell even if they don’t realize it. For instance, Brunswick saw a 14% reduction in water consumption across key manufacturing facilities in 2023. Part of that was because Mercury Marine in Fond du Lac, Wis., completed installation of a new coolant recovery system. Along with modified maintenance practices and a new control system, the recovery system is expected to reduce water usage.
“These guys in Fond du Lac didn’t make this improvement because it was about sustainability,” Koenig says. “They were making cost reductions — less water you have to pay for, less coolant you have to pay for, less sludge waste that you have to pay for, more uptime and less downtime for cleaning and maintenance. But it has a sustainability benefit.”
Telling the sustainability story is key both inside and outside of the company, she adds. Employees can engage in this type of thinking through sustainability town halls, the creation of energy teams to focus on managing electricity or fuel use, or the establishment of a sustainability council to consider things like product packaging and raw materials.
Whatever those employees come up with can then be turned into a public narrative that benefits the company even further. “When there’s a sustainability win, have the company president talk about it. Issue a press release,” Koenig says. “Make people excited about what you’re doing. It not only inspires more initiative, but it also inspires engagement.”
This article was originally published in the July 2024 issue.
