Adjusting for sustainable growth
By Dinh Dung in HCMC
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| Workers monitor a drinking water bottling line at La Vie Plant in southern province of Long An - Photo: Bich Van |
Climate change, environmental pollution and exhaustion of natural resources have become buzzwords as people are increasingly aware of what would happen in the future if no drastic actions were taken to protect the environment. It is not by chance when people say that development and profit should not be sought after at all costs but the environment should be protected to warrant sustainable business growth.
As part of efforts contributing to environmental protection, many companies are embracing green values in hopes of cutting costs to ensure the efficacy of business performance as well as contributing to environmental protection. A case in point is the drinking water bottler La Vie. As a commitment to making business greener, the company has made adjustments in production.
Entering the local market in 1992, the company based in the southern province of Long An bottles drinking water, so underground water is a feedstock for La Vie. In recognizing water as a limited natural resource, La Vie worked on a program in which its staff contributed ideas of environmental protection, which according to the firm would ultimately bring business efficiency.
“We started our environment program around three years ago by saving water in production,” Nguyen Thi Tuyet Van, vice general manager of La Vie Limited Liability Company, recalled, adding every drop of underground water was monitored and saved under the program.
To this end, the company adjusted the pumping of water from deep wells to a level precisely enough for production, instead of fixing the output of pumped water as before. For example, the company used to set its water flow at around 30 cubic meters per hour regardless of the production plan. With the new monitoring program in place, water pumping was readjusted to minimize the wastage of water.
“We save a lot of water every year,” Van said. Last year, the company provided the market with over 120 million liters of bottled drinking water.
In line with the water saving program, La Vie decided to improve its product package, applying advanced technology to reduce weight of PET, which is used to make bottles. The company asked its bottle supplier to find ways to use less material than before to make bottles.
Van said the trial program for producing 0.5 liter and 0.35 liter bottles was launched last year, and that under the PET saving program, every gram of PET was calculated to reduce without affecting the quality of bottles.
Van said that although it counted every gram of PET saved on every finished product, the company enjoyed a great result from the program. After three months, the trial program last year helped the company cut costs by around VND250 million.
“We expect to save some VND2 billion from the PET program this year,” Van said. The program has helped minimize the discharge of plastic waste into the environment.
According to the HCMC Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the solid waste treatment facility in the city receives some 6,000 tons a day, of which plastic garbage accounts for the second largest quantity after food waste. A large amount of plastic waste is not collected for recycling but discharged directly to dumpsites.
Van said the company would set new targets such as saving natural resources, reducing use of energy in production and improving technology so as to protect the environment and ensure its sustainable growth.
The Saigon Times Daily