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Report lauds enviromental efforts of five corporations

To demonstrate that "doing good" can yield financial gains, Taiwan will present the successful experiences of five enterprises and their investments in environmental protection at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) next month in Johannesburg, South Africa.

According to Developing Value: The Business Case for Sustainability in Emerging Markets -- published on July 17 by the International Finance Corporation (IFC, a member of World Bank Group), the strategy consultants SustainAbility and Ethos Institute in Brazil -- five Taiwanese enterprises that implemented environmentally sound policies benefitted financially from their investments.

The book is regarded as the first large-scale study of developing countries that proves companies can post financial gains while pursuing sustainability.

The book presents 240 cases based on the practices of 176 companies, ranging from family-owned companies to multinationals in over 60 countries in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.

The material covers a wide range of business sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure and information technology.

The five Taiwanese enterprises with outstanding achievements for promoting sustainable development listed in the report are Acer Incorporated (宏電), Cheng Loong Corp (正隆造紙), Inventec Corp (英業達), Uni-President Corp (統一) and United Microelectronics Corp (UMC聯電).

"Taiwan's private sector achievement of ensuring sustainability will be heard by the world at the summit," Niven Huang (黃正忠), secretary-general of the Business Council for Sustainable Development, Taiwan (企業永續發展協會), told the Taipei Times.

The UN summit designates Sept. 1 as Business Day to highlight the key role played by businesses in promoting sustainable development.

On Aug. 30, Huang said, the council will join the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) to present the study at the WBCSD's regional network event.

According to the report, Acer made significant efforts to reduce pollution and negative impacts to the environment.

Acer has adjusted its production process in a way that saves resources and reduces the amount of industrial waste.

As a result of its environmental improvements, Acer saved approximately US$35,000 on cleaner production, US$125,000 on pollution control, US$250,000 in energy costs, US$1 million on material replacement and US$1.7 million on design changes in 1998.

Similarly, the report said, the results of the Cheng Loong Corporation's waste-minimization efforts between 1996 and 1999 increased savings from NT$95 million (US$2.8 million) in 1996 to NT$155 million (US$4.6 million) in 1999.

Inventec, the report said, saves on average NT$11.77 million (US$350,000) per year by implementing diverse strategies such as waste recycling, waste solvent reduction and energy conservation.

In addition, the report said that Uni-President Corp saved a total of US$2.5 million in 1998 by improving energy efficiency and reducing the amount of its industrial waste.

In 1998 UMC, according to the report, saved the equivalent of 6.3 percent of their revenue that year.

The company saved US$10,000 by cleaning up its production processes, US$1,000 by improving its operational efficiency and US$22,000 through recycling and reuse.

"Taiwanese enterprises have to realize that internalizing environmental costs and benefits will become a worldwide trend," Huang told the Taipei Times.

Huang stressed that there are compelling commercial reasons for enterprises to carry out environmental sound investments to ensure business sustainability.

Due to Taiwan's entry into the WTO, Huang said, overseas consumers' concern about the environmental friendliness of products and packaging can no longer be neglected.

Officials of the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs said that the promotion of sustainable development in Taiwan was actually driven by both the government and the private sector.

Shih Yen-hsi (施延熙), division director of IDB's Sustainable Development Division, told the Taipei Times that in a bid to convince Taiwan's industries of the need for sustainable development, the bureau had proposed policies that focused on environmental labeling, promoting industrial waste reduction and encouraging clean production.

To make sure that Taiwan's industry becomes fully integrated with the global market, contradictions in existing policies should be eliminated, Shih said.

"When Taiwan is exploring its business opportunities overseas, incomplete environmental policies often intimidate foreign enterprises," Shih said.

Before the Waste Disposal Act was revised last October, CEOs' liabilities for illegal dumping by contracted waste handlers was unacceptable.

Shih said that using resources reasonably would be Taiwan's top priority when adopting strategies to make the nation sustainable.

"We should consider promoting renewable-energy industries by adjusting out-of-date polices when we are faced with the controversy surrounding nuclear energy," Shih said.

On Wednesday, the Cabinet's committee for promoting sustainable development confirmed that, beginning next year, sustainable development indicators would be published annually.
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