Lean and green in action: interdependencies and performance of pollution prevention projects

As manufacturing plants strive to achieve more environmentally sound operations, management teams must undertake pollution prevention projects that do not hamper manufacturing results. In these projects, firms often adopt both lean and green practices. The literature has provided some evidence of the synergistic interaction of lean practices and green practices to improve plant performance. However, few studies provide a thorough and in-depth examination of such processes' interactions. Using a case study methodology, this paper aims to discern how the two sets of practices interact and how they yield maximum synergy in improving both operational and environmental performance. Based on the analysis of three pollution-prevention projects undertaken by two manufacturing plants of two large multinational firms, we find that lean and green practices may be implemented either sequentially or simultaneously, generating sequential or reciprocal interdependencies, respectively. The latter case is more likely to be associated with the involvement of external suppliers and, ultimately, with higher operational performance.