Top 12+ Successful Sustainability Case Studies
My academic research into corporate efforts shows a clear trend: environmental and social practices are no longer optional. They have a significant, long-term impact on a business’s success. The companies that excel here gain a powerful competitive edge.
To help incorporate these principles, here are 13 successful sustainability case studies that showcase real-world strategies and measurable results.
Environmental sustainability real-life examples
1. UPS ORION: Improve transportation efficiency
Problem
Transportation accounts for a massive portion of US greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (nearly 30%).1 For a logistics giant like UPS, cutting transport-related emissions is vital for long-term sustainability.
Solution
UPS adopted an AI system called ORION which is a route optimizer that aims to minimize the number of turns during the delivery.2
Launched in 2012, ORION saves UPS 10 million gallons of fuel yearly. This translates to cutting the company’s carbon footprint by 100,000 metric tons, the same as taking over 20,000 cars off the road.3
To learn more about ensuring supply chain sustainability with technology you can read Technologies Improving Supply Chain Sustainability.
Figure 2: US GHG emission distribution
Source: U.S Environmental Protection Agency4
2. IKEA IWAY: Make business with ESG-oriented corporations
Challenge
Businesses must ensure their supply chains meet high social and environmental standards. Supplier codes of conduct are key to rewarding companies with strong ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) practices.
Solution
IKEA created IWAY, a comprehensive supplier code of conduct now over 20 years old.5 IWAY six is the most recent version of IKEA’s supplier code of conduct, which evaluates:
- Core worker rights.
- Safety of the working place.
- Life-work balance of employees.
- Water and waste management of potential suppliers.
- Prevention of child labor.
IWAY ensures IKEA’s suppliers adhere to strict environmental and humanitarian standards, promoting responsible and sustainable practices across its entire global supply chain.
3. General Electric digital wind farm: Produce green energy efficiently
Figure 3: How digital twins can optimize wind turbine productivity
Source: DNV6
Problem
Wind turbine productivity changes constantly based on weather, location, and age. Performance declines over time, and knowing the best time for maintenance is crucial.
Solution
GE used IoT and digital twins to create its digital wind farms. These tools collect real-time data on each turbine and simulate adjustments (like changing a turbine’s direction) to find the most effective layout for the entire farm.
The digital wind farm initiative allows each farm to generate up to 10% more green energy, significantly improving the global clean energy supply.7
4. Swire Properties green building: Minimize GHG emissions
Challenge
As a construction company operating primarily in Hong Kong, Swire Properties needed to drastically reduce its own GHG emissions to meet stakeholder sustainability goals.
Solution
The company used 3D modeling to optimize energy efficiency in new buildings, like One Taikoo Place. They installed smart lighting that uses motion and sun sensors, and a system that converts waste food oil into biodiesel.8 They also prioritized low-carbon, recycled materials.9
Swire Properties was able to cut GHG emissions intensity throughout their portfolio by nearly 20% because of the usage of digital technologies and low carbon integrated materials.10
5. H&M let’s close the gap: Deposit scheme for gathering raw material
Issue
The current “take-make-dispose” economy is unsustainable, using resources 1.8 times faster than the Earth can replenish.11 Such an economy is not sustainable, and that is the reason why the concept of circular economy (CE) is trending nowadays.
Solution
The most basic principle of CE is to use trash as a raw material for production through innovation, recycling, or repairing and reusing existing products.
H&M’s “Let’s Close the Gap” project began in 2013 as a CE best practice that collects and categorizes discarded clothing from customers.12 Items in good shape are resold; those at the end of their life are recycled into raw material for new products.
Customers who donate old clothes receive a discount token, completing the circular loop. By 2019, 57% of H&M’s raw materials were sustainable. The company aims for 100% by 2030.13
6. Airbus: Manufacture lighter planes with 3D printing
Problem
Traditional aircraft manufacturing is slow, costly, and produces heavy parts. Heavier planes use more fuel, increasing carbon emissions.
Solution
Airbus partnered with experts in additive manufacturing (3D printing). This method speeds up part production and uses raw materials more effectively. Crucially, it creates parts that are up to 45% lighter.14
Airbus estimates that using 3D printing technology can reduce a single A320 plane’s annual GHG emissions by about 465,000 metric tons, roughly the same as eliminating 100,000 cars from the road for a year.15
For more information regarding improving corporate sustainability by digital transformation you can read Digital Technologies that Improve Corporate Sustainability.
7. Tata Power: Solar plants on the roofs
Challenge
Most city rooftops are unused, representing a missed opportunity to generate clean, decentralized energy.
Solution
Tata Power in India started utilizing available rooftop space on buildings to install solar panels, generating clean electricity.
By 2021, the program had spread across 90 Indian cities, producing 421 million watts of electricity.16 This is enough power for the yearly use of nearly 40,000 average US homes.17
We expect that in the near future, the cooperation between energy and construction companies will enhance the use of idle places in buildings in a more effective way. Such an industrial symbiosis reduces both sectors’ ESG risk.
For more information on the top carbon footprint calculators, check Carbon Footprint Calculator Software/Tools for Businesses.
Social and governance real-life sustainability examples
8. Gusto: Hiring female engineers to close the gender inequality gap
Problem
Gender inequality remains a major social issue despite all the improvements.18 There are two common types of gender disparity in the workplace. The first is gender pay disparity, which occurs when companies pay male employees more and provide better working conditions than female employees in the same position.
The second is occupational segregation, in which women are hired for non-technical jobs while men hold the majority of leadership roles. This was the situation at the software firm Gusto, where female engineers made up slightly more than 5% of the engineering team at the beginning of 2015.19
Solution
Gusto launched an HR effort to close the gap. It focused on hiring female engineers, banned discouraging language, and removed masculine terms like “ninja rock star coder” from job ads.
By the end of 2015, Gusto raised its female engineer ratio to approximately 20%.20 This was a significant jump, especially compared to the 2013 industry average of 12%.
9. HSBC: ESG concerned green finance
Challenge
Finance companies have a powerful role in promoting sustainability, but must increase their funding support for responsible initiatives.
Solution
HSBC is committed to investing $100 billion in sustainability projects by the end of 2025.21
The bank’s strong ESG commitment was recognized with an AA rating from MSCI in 2021.22 HSBC is also actively working to source 100% of its electricity from renewable energy by 2030. The company reduces its consumption of paper and single-use plastic packaging for coffee and beverages.23
10. Signify: “Light-as-a-Service” model
Problem
The traditional business model creates resource waste and poor product quality because producers don’t maintain ownership, contributing to the circularity gap.
Solution
Signify, a lighting company, adopted a Product-Service System (PSS). They keep ownership of the lighting system and charge a subscription fee based on usage. This “Light-as-a-Service” model ensures product stewardship.
The model encourages Signify to produce high-quality, easily repairable items to extend product life. Signify reports zero luminaire waste and lower maintenance costs as a result.24
11. Impact Foundation: Put charitable capital to work
Challenge
Over a trillion dollars sit in charitable funds and foundations, often passively invested. This capital is not being actively aligned with the charitable goals of the donors, missing huge opportunities for real-world impact.25
Solution
Impact Foundation, founded in 2015, offers Impact Accounts, donor advised funds built for impact investing. Donors recommend investments in businesses or nonprofits that create both social and financial returns. Returns are reinvested, multiplying the long-term impact.
To date, over $650 million has been deployed through these accounts to support job creation, poverty reduction, and other social goals, making charitable capital an active force for good.
12. Global Recycling Foundation: Promoting the “Seventh Resource”
Issue
The Earth’s natural resources, such as air, water, coal, oil, gas, and minerals, are being depleted at an unsustainable pace. Combined with rising temperatures and climate emergencies, our planet faces escalating threats like deforestation, pollution, and resource scarcity.
Solution
Founded in 2018, the Foundation established Global Recycling Day to promote recycling as the “Seventh Resource.” Recycling helps conserve raw materials, save energy, and reduce CO₂ emissions. The foundation urges people to see waste not as trash but as a valuable resource.
Recycling already prevents over 700 million tons of CO₂ emissions yearly, a number projected to reach 1 billion tons by 2030. The initiative has successfully mobilized communities and governments worldwide to increase recycling efforts.26
13. O.N.E Amazon: Protecting the rainforest using technology
Challenge
The Amazon rainforest, a critical global ecosystem, is threatened by deforestation and a lack of sustainable funding mechanisms.
Solution
O.N.E Amazon created a digital asset security backed by a 30-year land contract to attract sustainable investment without transferring land ownership. The money goes into a fund that supports protection, job creation, and reforestation.27
To monitor and protect the forest, they use Edge AI, IoT sensors, and data analytics to build the Internet of Forests (IoF), a digital network that monitors the health of every hectare in real time.
The project began with a 10,000-hectare pilot, giving investors both financial potential and real-world impact. AI-powered sensors and early warning systems quickly detect threats like illegal logging, ensuring long-term rainforest preservation.
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A wonderful collection of case studies on corporate sustainability. I enjoyed the read. I am convicted to delve into promoting sustainability in Africa.
Hello, James! Thank you for your feedback. Awesome! That's a great cause to pursue.