Stephen Boles
Corporate sustainability is the principle that businesses with the greatest potential for future prosperity are those that are managed with a consideration of ‘the three pillars’: strong economic returns, positive social values, and responsible environmental stewardship.
Corporate sustainability has emerged as a mega-trend in today’s business world, and is now an expected part of responsible business management. Businesses that plan for and invest in sustainability will position themselves with a competitive advantage through increased operational efficiencies and improved relationships with customers, their community, their supply chain, and major distribution channels.
So how does innovation relate to corporate sustainability? Merriam-Webster defines innovation as “the introduction of something new”. From a business standpoint, this broad definition of innovation can have multiple applications. Innovation is often thought of as the development and introduction of new products or services. However, innovation can also apply to improvements in the manufacture or performance of existing products or services.
Innovation is a key component of an effective corporate sustainability strategy that can greatly enhance a business’ economic health and environmental management. New product or service innovation allows a company to stay relevant and timely, maintain or expand its market share, and often identify new market opportunities. Innovation within existing facilities or products can greatly reduce the environmental footprint of the business through improved operational efficiencies, which can provide positive economic returns and a low payback period.
The wine and tender fruit sector has a long list of examples of innovation to be proud of, a few of which are provided below. Orchard and Vine readers are encouraged to think outside the box about opportunities for innovation in their own operations. Innovation might just be the ingredient that is needed to transform you from a good business into a great business that is sustainable over the long term.
Energy From Pomace
Several years ago the majority of leftover grape skin, seeds, and pulp (known as pomace) from Vincor’s Niagara wineries was sent to landfills. This disposal process was problematic in numerous ways. Economically, the transport costs and tipping fees to dispose of the pomace in landfills was an expense of tens of thousands of dollars per year. Environmentally, because of its organic content the pomace would decompose over time and emit methane, a harmful greenhouse gas. Vincor partnered with a local company Vandermeer Greenhouses and developed a solution to this problem. Vincor is supplying pomace from its Niagara operations as a fuel source for Vandermeer’s anaerobic digester. The digester is a piece of equipment that captures the methane from decomposing organic matter and uses it as a fuel source to generate electricity. The electricity generated from Vandermeer’s digester has drastically reduced one of the greenhouse company’s major expense items (electricity), while also reducing the pomace disposal costs for Vincor – an innovative solution that is a win-win for both companies.
Bottle Weight and Packaging
The environmental and economic opportunities available to wineries for converting to lighter-weight bottles are significant. Two years ago Fetzer Wineries acted on a company-wide commitment to lighter wine bottles. Fetzer’s lighter bottles reduce glass usage by 16% (more than 2100 tons per year) which reduces supply chain greenhouse gas emissions associated with glass bottles by 14 per cent.
The lighter bottles are a result of technological innovations in bottle design, reducing the glass thickness and eliminating the punt. These changes result in multiple environmental and economic impacts through the wine bottle lifecycle as it not only reduces the glass used, but also the energy necessary to produce the glass, and the energy required to transport the wine to consumers.
Wastewater Treatment
A B.C.-based winery with a strong commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship invested in an innovative sequencing batch reactor wastewater treatment plant. Ontario-based engineering firm Enviro-Stewards designed the system and helped commission process (clean) water treatment, wastewater treatment and reuse, and an air treatment biofilter to avoid odours at the winery. Prior to the design of the wastewater treatment plant, the winery underwent a comprehensive water assessment to reduce upstream organic loading and water consumption. The reduction in organic loading and water usage resulting from the assessment allowed for a much smaller treatment plant to be constructed, which realized over $50,000 in capital cost savings for the winery.