Corporate Responsibility

One third of the world’s 1.8 billion young people are currently neither in employment, education or training. Of the one billion more youth that will enter the job market in the next decade, only 40 percent are expected to be able to get jobs that currently exist. The global economy will need to create 600 million jobs over the next 10 years – five million jobs each month -- simply to keep pace with projected youth employment rates.

In my 25-plus-year career, one thing has become abundantly clear to me. Companies with an engaged employee base are the companies that tend to thrive.

Republic Services’ Conestoga Landfill in Morgantown, PA recently hosted a ribbon cutting grand opening event for the site’s newly completed $15-million waste water treatment plant. The plant is one of only three nationwide for Republic and took nearly four years to design and build. Fully in operation since April 2015, the plant utilizes cutting edge technology to provide the latest in environmental protection in the processing of waste water.

The trend towards supply chain transparency is not only growing and evolving within areas already implementing regulations, but it is also expanding into new regions. While many in the European Union saw the good that the RoHS directive was doing, others around the world quickly began to take notice.

Sustainability performance is critical for 21stCentury businesses. Employees and customers throughout the supply chain demand it. Investors do as well, and with good reason—one recent survey that looks at 200 academic studies found that 88% of sources found that “robust sustainable practices . . . translate into cash flows.” However, full integration of “robust sustainable practices” may require a governance change to endure over time, especially in the context of the public markets.