Coffee Company Secures Customer Confidence with $1M+ Annual Savings and 74% Water Reduction
Executive summary
A large coffee company engaged SSC with less than nine months to meet urgent sustainability commitments made to its largest customers: 20% reductions in energy and water use and achieving zero waste to landfill. At the time, the company had made little progress toward these goals.
Through SSC’s Sustainability Action Plan, focused on energy, water, and waste, our team identified over $1 million in annual cost savings, including more than $800,000 tied to waste and packaging reductions. The project delivered measurable energy and water savings, put the company on track to meet their zero waste to landfill commitment, and helped retain key customer relationships by demonstrating clear progress toward commitments.
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Key Findings
$1M+ Annual Savings Identified:
SSC uncovered significant cost-saving opportunities, including over $800,000 tied to waste and packaging inefficiencies, with most improvements requiring only low-cost procedural changes.Energy Efficiency Gains:
Through focused analysis of electricity and natural gas use, SSC identified opportunities that delivered a 17% reduction in energy consumption, putting the client within reach of their 20% goal.Exceptional Water Reductions:
Operational changes resulted in opportunities for a 74% reduction in water consumption, far surpassing the company’s original 20% target.Pathway to Zero Waste:
SSC established a clear strategy to help the company advance toward zero waste to landfill, demonstrating enough progress to satisfy major customer expectations.Customer Confidence Secured:
By rapidly identifying and implementing solutions, the client was able to show credible progress on sustainability commitments, strengthening trust with key customers.
Results
Estimated Annual Savings: $1,000,000
Of the $1M+ annual savings, $800,000 was from waste-related improvements.
17% reduction in energy use (electricity and natural gas).
74% reduction in water consumption, far surpassing the 20% goal.
Clear path to zero waste to landfill established.
Positive response from a major customer, ensuring business retention.
“This project showcased how engineering smarter processes and uncovering inefficiencies can deliver significant progress in a short timeframe. By focusing on practical, low-cost solutions, we not only identified over $1 million in savings but also helped the client strengthen relationships with their biggest customers.”
Tad Radzinski, PE, SEP, LEED AP, SFP
President & Co-Founder, Sustainable Solutions Corporation
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The coffee company had committed to its largest customers that it would reduce energy and water consumption by 20% and achieve zero waste to landfill by a specified deadline. With only nine months remaining before its reporting deadline—and no tangible progress—the company faced reputational and business risks. To close the gap quickly, they turned to SSC to provide a practical, actionable plan.
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SSC applied its Sustainability Action Plan framework to rapidly evaluate the company’s energy, water, and waste in their operations. Our team conducted a focused site assessment to identify immediate efficiency opportunities and procedural improvements. For energy, SSC pinpointed measures to reduce electricity and natural gas use, achieving a 17% reduction. On the water side, operational changes delivered a dramatic 74% reduction, far surpassing the client’s goal. Waste analysis revealed significant cost drivers in packaging inefficiencies and product loss, uncovering more than $800,000 in potential savings. By combining low- and no-cost solutions with a clear roadmap toward zero waste to landfill, SSC helped the company demonstrate credible progress to its customers while achieving over $1 million in annual savings.
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Sustainability Action Plans are a strategic, data-driven roadmap designed to help organizations improve operational efficiency, increase cost savings, reduce risk, and decrease environmental impact.
These plans are tailored to address key operational areas, including energy, carbon emissions, water usage, material use, and waste management.
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An audit and analysis of operations’ energy usage to identify inefficiencies and opportunities to reduce overall spend and energy consumption.
A strategic roadmap that identifies opportunities for emissions reduction across operations, supply chain, and energy use.
Detailed review of water use and reclamation/reuse opportunities to reduce total water usage and identify cost savings throughout.
A measurement, characterization, and quantification of material flows and all waste streams in order to properly understand your operations. We evaluate your current system for handling and management of materials and waste.
Waste Diversion and Zero Waste
Our proven process to understand the waste, develop a waste diversion roadmap, find new outlets for difficult-to-manage waste streams, and create processes for waste minimization to achieve zero waste to landfill.
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Zero waste to landfill means that zero waste is disposed directly to landfill or to incineration without energy recovery by the particular facility. In order to achieve zero waste to landfill, an organization must send 100% of the waste streams to a downstream material management organization (MMO) with the intent to divert this material from landfill.
