Is Reshoring Manufacturing Good for the Environment?

Supply chains and manufacturing outfits have had to invent creative solutions to various concerns. Many external factors influence operations. Material delays, labor shortages, and even sociopolitical events make manufacturing volatile. 

One of the best options for corporations is to keep as many branches of the business as close to home as possible. This is called reshoring, and it can help provide companies with stability — but does it improve sustainability as well?

What Is Reshoring in Manufacturing?

Most manufacturers have aspects of their business all over the world. Reshoring in manufacturing is the process of bringing everything back to the country where headquarters are located. After a successful reshoring process, no employees or components will be overseas.

Most businesses that undergo reshoring do so for these reasons:

> Shortening lead times from international transportation

> Streamlining supply chains

> Taking advantage of government incentives

> Creating products made from local resources

> Offering more jobs to nearby citizens

Financial reasons also inspire reshoring initiatives. It’s expensive to ship materials and products internationally. Having operations nearby also eliminates expensive permitting, tariffs, and other miscellaneous fees from crossing borders. 

Additionally, companies are seeing reshoring’s potential in amplifying environmental efforts. 

What Are the Pros and Cons of Reshoring?

The motivations may make it seem like the advantages far outweigh the cons, but there are arguments for both sides.

Pros

Reshoring boosts local economies by providing more jobs and keeping money within communities. Many manufacturing companies have positions where skilled and unskilled workers could thrive, reducing unemployment. It also allows people to learn skills in bustling industries without higher education.

Having operations closer to home also allows stakeholders to monitor quality control closely. It’s impossible to oversee every step of the production process when half is thousands of miles away. Now, management teams can see how everything affects quality, from safety adherence to technical issues, and have total autonomy in changing it with internal staff.

Finally, reshoring boosts supply chain resilience, meaning companies are less susceptible to outside risks. In 2021, around 1,800 tech companies alone, especially in the semiconductor industry, reshored efforts because of pandemic-related disruptions. Global disruptions, political distress, and natural disasters on international coasts have less impact.

Cons

Bringing work back to local soil will likely increase labor costs. Outsourcing tends to be cheaper, but reshoring allows companies to feed more money into long-term talent and pay them an ethical wage. It may disrupt budgets, but profit margins tend to recover after reshoring.

This brings up another disadvantage — the high cost of the transition. The upfront investment in labor, facilities, equipment, and training initially makes the idea expensive. Manufacturers must create projections of future savings from logistical challenges to justify the immense costs of reshoring. It will keep the transition moving. 

Reshoring will also minimize companies’ access to international markets. Having hands in multiple nations means greater supplier diversity and cultural ideas to embed into operations. Reshoring does limit this global access. However, that doesn’t mean global perspectives are inaccessible. Accessing them requires effort and collaboration.

How Does Reshoring Impact the Environment?

Here’s how this move impacts the planet.

Negatives

Corporations are incorporating more technologies, which may or may not have negative impacts on the environment. This includes increased energy use or environmental destruction by building new infrastructure. Fortunately, reshoring mitigates some of these drawbacks. Many install tech to encourage further decarbonization by gaining insights on carbon emissions, waste generation, resource consumption, and more.

Resource consumption could also generate problems. Manufacturers would rely more on the region to provide the materials they need to succeed. This could put unprecedented pressure on natural resources. Overcoming this requires tight communications with local businesses providing these resources so they can scale and prepare for spiked demand.

Positives

Reshoring reduces carbon footprints by an average of 25%-50% for several reasons. Greater access encourages accountability to produce less waste and higher-quality products. Reshoring also keeps products closer to the consumer, so transportation produces fewer negative impacts.

It also means more manufacturers follow consistent environmental standards. Compliance frameworks are not the same in every nation. Some are stricter than others, so some aspects of outsourced operations could become more sustainable if reshored to somewhere with higher standards. As a by-product, manufacturers could produce fewer pollutants and enhance social equity.

This could also make productions more transparent about their sustainable commitments. The higher visibility over what every branch of the company is doing makes it easier to institute and enforce environmental shifts.

Reshoring for Sustainability

Reshoring has proven beneficial for companies and communities. Now, it’s only getting better because it is helping the planet recover from manufacturing’s impact. In the coming years, it could be the most successful way to cut emissions while boosting competitiveness.

5 Effective Strategies for Steel Sustainability

Today’s world runs on steel, but the metal carries a hefty carbon footprint. As infrastructure projects and manufacturing grow, a more sustainable way to produce steel will be necessary to ensure a better future for the planet.

Steel production accounts for roughly 7% of all greenhouse gas emissions, and the world produces 2 billion tons annually. Thankfully, businesses won’t need to eliminate the metal from their supply chains to reduce its environmental impact — such a change wouldn’t be viable, anyway. Here are ways to make steel more sustainable.

1. Renewable Energy

The most straightforward and important strategy is to address the steel industry’s energy sources. Up to 75% of steel’s power consumption comes from often coal-fired furnaces, making iron and steel the world’s second-largest coal consumer. This reliance on fossil fuels leaves significant room for improvement from renewables.

Electrifying furnaces is the first step, and many foundries have already switched to electric equipment to save money. From there, steel manufacturers should look for renewable sources of this electricity. Rooftop solar is an elegant solution, though facilities in some areas may need to purchase green energy from other regions.

Hydrogen generators are a promising alternative. Fuel cells can work anywhere, produce no emissions other than heat and water, and avoid wind and solar intermittency problems. However, manufacturers must ensure their hydrogen comes from renewable sources, as many hydrogen-making processes rely on fossil fuels.

2. Supply Chain Optimization

Next, steelmakers can examine their supply chains. Even if smelting and refining use 100% clean energy, mining the iron and other base metals necessary is often hard on the environment. Long shipping routes may also lead to high vehicle-related emissions.

Sustainable mining is difficult, but several technologies pave the way forward. Electric equipment and hydrogen generators can reduce on-site emissions, while precision drilling minimizes environmental disturbances. Waste monitoring and post-dig rehabilitation can help companies take better care of the ecosystem around the mine to prevent damage.

Reshoring is another crucial supply chain improvement. Moving operations closer to home has a 25% to 50% decarbonization potential, thanks to lower vehicle emissions and greater insight into partners. Steel producers should also look for logistics partners using electric fleets.

3. Energy-Efficient Tooling

The transition to clean power and eco-friendly supply chains will be easier if manufacturers need less energy in the first place. Consequently, upgrading to more efficient equipment can also help make steel sustainable.

Furnace improvements are among the most impactful. Electric arc furnaces (EAFs) produce 78% fewer carbon emissions than conventional blast furnaces. As technology progresses, EAFs and similar machinery will become increasingly efficient, too, leading to even greater reductions in power-related carbon emissions.

Even seemingly minor changes can have a significant impact. Trimming steel with circular saw blades, for example, leads to lower energy consumption and faster cutting, letting manufacturers produce the same amount in less time while consuming less power.

4. Recycling and Reuse

Material reuse is another critical step toward sustainable steel. While mining may have a large carbon footprint, steel and its base metals are highly recyclable. Steelmakers would significantly reduce their supply chain emissions by turning to recycled feedstocks before ordering more virgin metals.

For this strategy to reach its full potential, manufacturers will need to work closely with downstream supply chain partners. Providing end users with easier ways to recycle steel products and streamlining the process of breaking old items down into their base materials is necessary for wide-scale recycling.

Conversely, manufacturers can reduce the demand for virgin steel by creating longer-lasting metals, leading to fewer replacements. Galvanized steel is a promising resource, as it prevents corrosion by self-healing through a zinc coating.

5. Carbon Capture

Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is the final piece of the sustainable steel puzzle. Collecting and storing or offsetting any existing emissions could let manufacturers lower their environmental impact before they can feasibly switch to zero-emissions processes.

CCS solutions must capture at least 90% of the CO2 from exhaust fumes to be a worthwhile investment. While this figure may seem high, some installations today can reach over 95% efficiency. Further research and development could push it even further.

Similarly, carbon offsets could buy the steel industry time before larger-scale improvements are technologically or financially viable. These solutions must only be a stepping stone, though. They’re a helpful way to reduce emissions in the meantime but aren’t green enough to be a long-term solution.

Sustainable Steel Is Possible

Much of the world’s steel is far from sustainable, but it can be in the future. Foundries already have the technology necessary to reduce their carbon footprint significantly. While industry-wide change may take time, starting today can push the world in the right direction.

These five strategies are just a few ways manufacturers can reduce their steel’s embodied carbon. Implementing these fixes today while considering further steps down the road could be a huge help to the environment.

The Rise of Transparent Bamboo: A Green Revolution

The news has been inconsistent, with some outlets reporting global sand reserves are running dry. Others suggest humans have nothing to worry about. Regardless, this has made many reconsider what materials companies rely on, with glass alternatives being a priority concern. Recent research has revealed an innovative substitute, and it lies within transparent bamboo.

What Is Transparent Bamboo?

Experts from China’s Central South University of Forestry and Technology took bamboo materials and did something unique. With manipulation, they turned it into a replacement for glass. Similar methods have been used on wood.

They used a process called delignification, which made the lignin in bamboo dissolve in liquid. Removing this was critical because lignin causes pigmentation in the plant. The material also makes bamboo rigid and heavy, so researchers had to literally and figuratively introduce a solution. To compensate for structural losses, the researchers injected sodium silicate to make it strong and flame-retardant and covered it in coatings to make it hydrophobic. This process forges transparent bamboo for construction purposes. 

How Does It Compare to Conventional Glass?

Using bamboo in construction instead of glass has advantages. Glass is heavy and brittle, and installing transparent bamboo in buildings makes it safer and more secure. Because of its strength, bamboo could go in more places than windows, such as walls, showers and even roofs, and it could add to the structure’s stability.

Additionally, silica sand is difficult to source and energy-intensive to convert into glass. Bamboo is fast-growing and infinitely renewable, making it a cost-effective and eco-friendly option for builders. While crafting transparent bamboo requires work, this could save the industry money and electricity. 

What about its performance? It has a light transmittance of 71.6% and a high fog value, allowing light to come through while providing privacy for homes. Other glasses may be too crystal clear, which could make some households feel uneasy.

It also has better thermal properties, with lower conductivity and high insulation traits compared to glass, which seems to capture the sun until it is too hot to touch. With transparent bamboo, inside conditions are more consistent because the faux glass does not radiate as much of the sun’s rays.

What Makes It a Sustainable Choice?

The environmental impacts of using bamboo in construction are significant, considering the industry’s global emissions, waste generation, and resource consumption. 

Using bamboo for building is one of the smartest choices construction workers can make for the planet. It sequesters around 17 tons of carbon dioxide per hectare per year with a tensile strength stronger than steel. If bamboo replaced glass or steel for some building components, the planet could recover faster from the adverse effects of construction and related industries. 

The regions where bamboo for construction would be grown would also experience climate boons. It would boost economic equity in these areas while reinforcing soil quality. The nutrients bamboo provides make the ground more resistant to erosion. This means intense weather would impact these lands less, as the soil would be less vulnerable to water and wind.

Growing bamboo also prevents two environmentally destructive activities — sand extraction and deforestation. Sand mining is harsh on aquatic ecosystems and saps the area of sediment, leaving communities prone to socioeconomic distress. Because transparent bamboo could replace some wood applications, fewer forests would undergo clear-cutting to facilitate the construction sector. 

What Impacts Will This Have on Bamboo in Construction?

Transparent bamboo will gain popularity in building design because it is practical and versatile. It complements other sustainable materials and architectural choices. For example, treated bamboo expertly regulates temperatures and humidity, which could enhance passive heating and cooling strategies. Pair this with warmth-retaining hardwood in colder climates, and households will manage indoor conditions easily.

It could also make buildings more climate resilient. With its tensile strength and shock-absorption qualities, it could withstand more severe weather like earthquakes. Consequently, because this building material is so quick to regrow, recovery from natural disasters would be faster. 

Because of the building advantages, more companies might adopt transparent bamboo to further sustainability commitments in the coming years. 

It will not replace glass in every instance. While the product can withstand fire, it does release harmful smoke if burned because of the epoxy coatings. These are safety and polluting hazards, which may not be ideal for all use cases. However, these drawbacks are fewer than transparent bamboo’s environmental and constructive gains.

One of transparent bamboo’s most innovative uses is solar panels. It works as a substrate, making perovskite solar cells convert 15.29% more power than without.

Bamboo Building Trends

Bamboo can be incredibly flexible in construction. If researchers have the funding and tools to explore its full potential, bamboo has a seemingly endless list of applications. Sustainably focused construction companies should consider incorporating this novel material in future builds to reduce its environmental impact while boosting building performance.