NEW YORK, N.Y. — Retailers that put green practices to work at their facilities can save tens of millions of dollars a year by managing resources and waste more aggressively, according to SSA & Company.

"Retailers spend millions of dollars on their green agendas, but never see the opportunity those agendas present to operate smarter, more efficiently, and with lower cost," Suzanne Long, the Retail Practice leader for the global operations consulting firm, said in a statement announcing the release yesterday of the SSA & Company's white paper, "Going Green in the Retail Industry."

Looking at more than 20 environmental projects involving major retailers around the world, SSA & Company said the big cost savings occurred at firms that improved energy consumption, recycling and waste management by 30 percent to 40 percent.

And for retailers, one of the better places to look for savings is in their own garbage.

Millions of tons of plastic and cardboard from U.S. retail operations are thrown away each year, the white paper said. In the grocery industry, almost $20 billion worth of food is discarded annually.

By putting smarter waste management practices into place, a retailer increased its recycling revenue by more than $2.4 million annually, in addition to sharply cutting the amount of plastic and cardboard it had been tossing out as garbage, according to a case SSA & Company cited in its paper.

Working with the retailer, the consulting firm said it found that 10 percent of cardboard and 75 percent of plastic at the company's sites were ending up in landfills; and recyclables that were set out for collection were often stolen because they were left out in the open.

After tightening up its program, the retailer improved cardboard and plastic recycling by more than 40 percent, which amounted to a waste reduction of more than 4 million pounds a year, and bumped up its recycling revenue.

Other measures to rein in rubbish slashed the retailer's compactor waste by more than 10 million pounds annually and cut the use of bags by 8 percent, a decrease of more than 14 million bags, the consulting firm said.

"It is a myth that going green means increased costs," SSA & Company President David Niles said in a statement.

SSA & Company was founded as the Six Sigma Academy in 1994. The firm works with businesses to develop green and other management strategies by using the principles of Lean Six Sigma.

_{Image courtesy of SSA & Company.}