Manufacturers’ 2025 sustainability priorities

Today, setting sustainability priorities can feel like solving a math equation with too many unknowns. 

On one hand, manufacturers must factor in the financial consequences of sustainable operations. On the other hand, they must adhere to the ever-shifting landscape of local, state, federal and international regulatory mandates. 

Between these parameters is a messy tangle of tech advancements, sustainability trends and terminology out of which many businesses struggle to create a solid list of sustainability initiatives.

“Generally, people want to do the right thing,” said Purdue University professor John Sutherland. “I had a colleague that said, ‘Think about the agricultural and industrial revolution — these things took several decades to really get going.’ We shouldn’t be too surprised this is taking time to make progress.”

Despite a shifting domestic energy policy under the Trump administration, many experts in the industry agree: the next four years won’t significantly change their long-term sustainability plans.

“Manufacturers simply are not going to make long-term decisions that change how much they pollute based on a four-year enforcement cycle,” said Adam Freedgood, principal and co-founder of sustainability consultancy Third Partners. 

In creating sustainability strategies this year, many manufacturers are adhering to ideas that are economically resilient and secure their spot on the global market.

Don’t count on regulation going away

Net zero emissions goals are becoming much less fashionable in the corporate world under the Trump administration, says Columbia University Sabin Center for Climate Change Law founder and professor Andrew Sabin.

But that doesn’t mean that manufacturers should change course on sustainability goals, even amid changing climate regulation. While congressional changes or rollbacks to regulation can be difficult to challenge in court, agency-level changes can take longer to take effect, Sabin said.

“If that’s done by an agency, it could take a long time to go through the administrative process, and after that’s done it can be challenged in court. By the time all that is resolved, there could be a new president who could reverse course once again,” Sabin said. “So it’s risky to count on a rule going away, at least quickly and decisively, unless Congress has acted.”

Sabin added that even if federal-level regulations are weakened, state-level rules, as well as European …