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Green Portfolio Project

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Why Private Equity?

The private equity industry is known for its focus on improving business performance and for the rigorous process it uses to set goals and track improvement in portfolio companies.

This groundbreaking partnership is using the power of private equity to achieve environmental goals.

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

Making Progress, Saving Millions

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.

  • US Foodservice saved $8.2 million and avoided CO2 emissions equivalent to taking more than 4,400 cars off the road. See how US Foodservice is doing it.
  • PRIMEDIA saved $2.9 million and reduced paper use by the equivalent of more than 40,000 trees. See how PRIMEDIA is doing it.
  • Sealy saved over $5 million, avoided CO2 emissions equivalent to taking more than 600 cars off the road and prevented solid waste that would have filled more than 46 garbage trucks. See how Sealy is doing it.

"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: 09-Feb-2008