Sustainability and proactive product stewardship at Navistar

Introduction
The proactive product stewardship program at Navistar Inc. is making progress in three major areas of sustainability: environmental, social, and economic. To address these three areas, the company has focused on reducing the environmental impacts of its operations and products, while at the same time promoting local community goals, creating favorable workplace environments, and providing economic rewards for reducing greenhouse gases.

Methods
This paper reviews the product stewardship program at Navistar. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the program’s progress are presented.

Results
Environmental sustainability efforts have met or exceeded the regulatory mandate on emissions of air pollutants from products, including heavy-duty diesel engines using a combination of innovative product designs and proactive implementation of emissions reduction technologies. In addition, Navistar has continued to investigate the human health implications of exposure to diesel exhaust, a complex mixture that changes considerably with technology advances. To be socially sustainable, Navistar has programs that are beneficial to the health and welfare of both employees and communities in areas where Navistar has facilities. In addition, the company is more economically sustainable by increasing energy efficiency at its manufacturing facilities and of its products, thereby saving money for the both the company and the customers.

Discussion
Factoring environmental, health, safety, security, and local community goals into business decisions benefits both society at large as well as the company. Establishing a reputation for socially responsible business practices creates goodwill among key stakeholder groups, and makes the company more attractive to high quality employees. Socially responsible investors may be more attracted to the company, and a sustainability strategy may also provide a competitive advantage for product marketing over other companies, to the extent that customers care about the environmental and social records of companies.