Manufacturing’s role in corporate environmental sustainability ‐ Concerns for the new millennium

Abstract The natural environment and the manufacturing function are becoming inextricably linked. As the new millennium approaches and progresses, profitability, productivity and environmental consciousness are increasingly viewed as integral goals of manufacturing organizations. The issues facing manufacturing organizations, in general, and the manufacturing function in particular, are discussed in this paper. Some of the current practices and future requirements for an environmentally sustainable manufacturing enterprise are included in this discussion. Even though the focus is on manufacturing strategy and operations, issues relevant to the overall organization and other functions are also included. In the final analysis, this field and topic is relatively novel to most organizations, ample room exists for both practitioners and researchers for making progress in the next millennium.