Hillenbrand: Sustainability promotes innovation and value

Manufacturers across the U.S. are striving to make their operations more sustainable, and many are also focusing specifically on the equipment they make and how it can support their customers’ sustainability efforts.

At Hillenbrand – a global industrial company that provides sophisticated, mission-critical processing equipment and solutions for markets such as durable plastics, food and recycling – sustainability is at the heart of everything we do.

The intent: Kim Ryan, president and CEO of Hillenbrand, explained that the company does not have a standalone sustainability strategy, but rather has made sustainability “the way we do business.”

• Hillenbrand is a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact, the Convention against Corruption and the Principles for the Empowerment of Women.

• “Our journey toward sustainability is guided by our goal to ‘Shape What Matters For Tomorrow,’ which was collectively established and is owned by all Hillenbrand employees,” said Ryan. “Our recently released 2023 Sustainability Report demonstrates our continued commitment to this goal as it showcases our progress and focuses on our industrial products that positively impact the world around us.”

The progress: Highlights of the 2023 report include a focus on product innovation, continued transparency through additional data on key environmental metrics such as water and waste, and the disclosure of three years of Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions data. They also cover 15 Scope 3 categories.

• “With the release of our fifth annual sustainability report, we continue to evolve and improve,” Ryan continued. “‘Make It Matter’ is a core value at Hillenbrand and we are committed to finding innovative solutions that move us toward a more sustainable future.”

The angle: The company’s success in sustainability is driven by its leaders, who ensure that this value is deeply embedded in daily operations.

• “Now more than ever, long-term and global macroeconomic trends require adaptation and engagement with employees, customers and stakeholders,” Ryan told us. “By taking these trends into account, we can continue to work toward a more sustainable future by delivering innovative solutions.”

The value: Ryan sees Hillenbrand’s sustainability efforts – which the company says are supported by the three pillars of people, products and partnerships – as adding value for everyone.

• For example, by developing more efficient systems to produce more sustainable products, Hillenbrand is committed to creating industrial solutions that have a positive impact on the world.
• Whether it’s helping customers reduce their energy emissions or using Hillenbrand’s technology to produce more sustainable packaging, customers can benefit from this commitment.
• “It’s been a huge value-add for us,” Ryan concluded. “If you look at it as a cost, it will be. If you look at it as something that could actually add value for you and your customers, I think that’s exactly what it can be.”

Further reading: Learn more about Hillenbrand’s commitment to sustainability here.