The Foundational Investment Thesis of The Future is Sustainability
Companies and investors have a fiduciary responsibility to make good decisions that benefit their organization in the long run about sustainability. This means they must create a thesis on investing that determines how the decisions they make today will affect them years down the road.
Many investors and corporations in today’s world have a thesis around technology. Every industry is using technology to innovate in every part of the value chain. In today’s world, a thesis around technology is too broad.
Institutions have been searching for a timeless investment thesis that ensures good long-term decisions. Today, that thesis is clear.
The only way to make good long-term decisions is to put sustainability first. Sustainable processes are, by definition, scalable. Scalable solutions are the direct paths to corporate growth.
Sustainability is about more than solar panels and wind farms out in the middle of nowhere. Of course, this is where the “green” movement has shown robust growth.
The Obama administration unlocked green energy incentives that paved the way for electric cars and renewable energy. These incentives helped to get green energy to price parity with traditional energy sources like coal and oil.
But, sustainability didn’t start in 2008.
Sustainable Investing
The story of sustainability can be traced back more than 100 years. Around the turn of the century (1900), Theodore Roosevelt created the United States Forest Service and established 150 national forests, 51 federal bird reserves, 4 national game reserves, 5 national parks, and 81 national monuments.
In the middle of the century, congress enacted the Air Pollution Act in 1955 and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 1969. In 1970, we created the EPA which paved the way for the Clean Water Act. The early 1970s marked the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) and the first Earth Day.
In recent history, the U.N. General Assembly established its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The goals were set to be achieved by the year 2030. These goals created a modern framework for corporate decision-making in the name of a sustainable future.
Today, sustainability reaches far beyond the UN SDGs. There are dozens of initiatives and mandates that companies create to fuel their path to becoming a more sustainable corporate entity.
Even the software that helps companies and consumers run their day-to-day lives is marketed as a “sustainable solution.” The impact of sustainable decision-making will ripple throughout every part of the economy.
Sustainability is no longer about solar and wind farms. In industry 4.0, sustainability is a new way of thinking.
Fortunately, sustainability is a clear and concise thesis for making decisions that will still be considered “good” and “reliable” when looking back years down the road.
So the question now is, where is the next opportunity in sustainability?
For years, the manufacturing industry has tried to become more sustainable. They have brought in Chief Sustainability Officers and created divisions in their companies to reduce their carbon footprint. They use clean energy and build recycling programs to reduce their waste. But, they’re still stuck using the same materials that have been foundational to their supply chain for decades.
Sustainable materials bring a new opportunity for companies to remove toxic materials, reduce carbon emissions, and create a value proposition that differentiates from the competition.
Here are just a few of the ways that organizations are becoming more sustainable every day.
ESG Focused
ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) initiatives make up 1 out of every 3 investment dollars in today’s world. The ESG movement is overtaking boardrooms as executives realize that they have a responsibility to make ethical and sustainable investments that make all stakeholders excited about the company’s impact and future.
Heartland’s vision is to become earth’s most sustainable company. We will do this by replicating carbon-negative industrial hemp supply chains both domestically and internationally.
Life Cycle Assessment
This is a methodology for assessing the environmental impacts associated with all stages of the life cycle of a commercial product, process, or service.
Heartland is starting to quantify the carbon footprint of its growing process. We are also working with our customers to quantify the carbon footprint reduction within their supply chain when they replace hemp materials with traditional mined and synthetic materials.
Carbon Credits
Companies today are faced with pressure from investors and customers to hit their net-zero carbon commitments. In addition to companies that are legally bound through today’s cap and trade program, there is an overwhelming push to be more sustainable. Removing carbon from the atmosphere, not just reducing production, has become top of mind everywhere.
Heartland’s industrial hemp supply chain has the potential to sequester over one million pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every day based on research from leading white papers on industrial hemp. This means that we will have carbon credits to distribute as incentives to our farmers, customers, and investors.
Sustainability Through Leadership
Most of the top organizations have Chief Sustainability Officers and departments that manage a company’s sustainability initiatives. There are dozens of different ways that companies can continuously seek to reduce their carbon footprint and increase the well-being of their organizations and stakeholders.
Heartland is actively reducing its carbon footprint in every part of our business model. We are a leader in sustainability that will help farmers and customers quantify their carbon footprint.
Sustainability Standards & Mandates
There is a never-ending list of organizations and mandates that companies are following at any one time.
- SDGs – United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
- GMP – Good Manufacturing Practices
- ISO – International Organization of Standardization
- ASTM – American Society for Testing and Materials
Our team is integrating these mandates into our business model and working with top manufacturers to hit the standards that are required for mass production.
Sustainable Materials
Up until today, the only reliable supply chain of “sustainable” materials has been wood filler or scraps from sawmills. In this day and age, people don’t want the most sustainable part of their products being cut down from trees.
There are two main reasons that sustainable materials aren’t used at scale.
- There is no reliable supply chain (in America).
- There is no product consistency.
Heartland is solving both of those problems.
With America’s first reliable industrial hemp supply chain, Heartland will be able to provide hundreds of millions of pounds of hemp additives for the plastic, rubber, and foam we use every day.
As Heartland replicates its Michigan industrial hemp supply chain, it will begin to penetrate other markets and expand its impact into other types of raw materials. Industrial hemp is an engine that can make a positive impact on every material you see around you.
At Heartland, the opportunities are endless.
As we fulfill our mission to make sustainable materials affordable and available, we will provide the foundation of the raw materials used across modern manufacturing.
At our core, we are a material innovation company. As we build an industrial hemp supply chain, we are also building a cellulose and carbon supply chain. These derivatives of hemp can power our ability to create a world out of bio-based materials.
The Heartland mission and vision will make it a leader in the public markets as it continues to work alongside some of the largest manufacturers on earth.
The Thesis of The Thesis: Sustainability
As you start to think about how sustainability will impact our planet, look beyond energy. The raw materials we use every day are the foundation of our material world. The leaders in sustainable raw materials will create huge opportunities for the public markets.
The fact that a reliable industrial hemp supply chain can make other raw materials stronger, lighter, cheaper, and more sustainable is a future worth striving toward. Heartland is in the additives business because we believe that hemp materials can add a value proposition to plastics, foams, rubbers, ceramics, building materials, and more. This allows our sustainable materials to add value to all different types of manufacturers and raw material suppliers.
Our world needs and deserves a sustainable future. That future is paved with sustainable materials and the companies that create those supply chains.
Join us as we build a world out of hemp.