Green Portfolio Project
Green Portfolio Program achieves $160 million in savings after two years. See full results below.
Environmental Defense Fund and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (KKR) have been working together since May 2008 to develop and test a set of analytic tools and metrics to help companies in KKR's U.S. portfolio measure and improve performance in several key environmental performance areas.
Green Returns
As a result of this partnership, EDF developed Green Returns, an innovative and flexible approach designed to create business and environmental value for the private equity sector.
Green Returns provides resources and tools that any firm can use to evaluate operations and identify opportunities to improve business and environmental performance in five key environmental areas:
- Greenhouse gas emissions
- Water
- Waste
- Forest products
- Priority chemicals
Green Portfolio results
To date, eight portfolio companies are reporting performance and have adopted environmental management initiatives and innovations.
Since the program launched in 2008, these companies have saved over $160 million in operating costs and eliminated 345,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, 1.2 million tons of waste and 8,500 tons of paper use.
Learn more about how each company is achieving these results by clicking on the company name in the table below:
| Company | Environmental Impact | Financial Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Accellent | 6,600 metric tons of GHG emissions | $785,000 |
| Biomet | 10,500 metric tons of GHG emissions | $2.1 million |
| Dollar General | 160,000 metric tons of GHG emissions 10.8M cubic yards of waste |
$106 million |
| HCA | 32,500 metric tons of GHG emissions | $4.7 million |
| Primedia, Inc. | 8,500 tons of paper | $7.5 million |
| Sealy Corporation | 14,000 metric tons of GHG emissions 2.9M lbs. of waste |
$12.1 million |
| SunGard | 20,700 metric tons of GHG emissions | $3.8 million |
| U.S. Foodservice | 101,000 metric tons of GHG emissions | $22.3 million |
| TOTAL | ||
|---|---|---|
| Greenhouse gas emissions | 345,000 metric tons | $160 million |
| Waste | 1.2 million tons | |
| Forest resources | 8,500 tons | |
Project timeline
In 2010: EDF released Green Returns, an approach designed for the private equity industry to improve business and environmental performance. Green Returns includes tools and best practices developed through EDF’s partnership with KKR.
KKR expanded the program to include four new companies: First Data; Lehigh Phoenix, a division of Visant; Oriental Brewery and Tarkett. Oriental Brewery and Tarkett represent the first non-U.S. based companies to join the program. With these additions, the Green Portfolio Project now encompasses 20% of KKR’s global private equity portfolio. Read KKR's announcement [PDF].
In 2009: Five additional portfolio companies joined the Green Portfolio Project to improve their environmental performance: Accellent, Biomet, Dollar General, SunGard and HCA.
Through this initiative, the companies are evaluating their impacts on key environmental performance areas and identifying opportunities to improve performance.
In 2008: We developed and pilot tested the concept and tools with three companies, generating savings of $16.4 million and preventing more than 25,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in 2008.
"One of KKR's core strengths is driving operational improvements that build business value. We are focused on improving environmental performance across our portfolio and providing a framework to help companies take environmental initiatives to scale."
- Dean Nelson, KKR Capstone
Posted: 01-Jan-1900; Updated: 14-Nov-2008


