A SUSTAINABILITY PRIMER - Plastics and Environmental Sustainability - page 55

innovations that would change the shape of the PPF curve (shown by the
brokenline).Thefunctionaldependenceofvariablesinthenewcurveallows
higher EQ at a higher level of market goods as well. The change or the
migration to the new curve ( C-Z ) generally involves a short-term setback
because during the migration new capital assets are acquired and
depreciated. However, once the migration onto the new PPF curve is
complete,itscompetitivenessandlong-termmarketsharewillincrease( Fig.
2.6 ) . The difficulty at this stage is in convincing management and
shareholders of the trade-off involving short-term costs but no tangible
reward in terms of corporate profits. This phase therefore requires the full
commitment of sustainability champions across the corporate team.
Figure 2.6 Investment in better technology allows the choice of
simultaneous gains in both goods to be secured but at a short-term cost.
The third phase of the paradigm change involves the design of products
and planning of production to ensure that sustainability principles will be
adhered to throughout the value chain. The same has to be demanded of
the suppliers as well as the fabricators or distributors who interface with the
corporate value chain. The entire life cycle of products from cradle to cradle
will then be re-examined not only in terms of profitability but also from
environmental and social perspectives. Realistic end-of-life options must
be built into the design of products to ensure that consumers can use the