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Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) was set up by Henry Kravis and his partner George Roberts in the mid-seventies with some help from the First Chicago Corporation. However, they have put together a unique green project which concentrates not solely on profitability, but likewise on the ecological impact of the companies they buy. Green business practice went mainstream in 2008 when KKR’s Henry Kravis and the non-profit environmental advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) merged. Critical matters like toxic waste and steep water consumption are an important part of their company mission statement. Eco-efficiency (a term initially endorsed by the WBCSD) is the routine applied to achieve these goals, by utilizing techniques such as reducing the dispersion of toxic chemicals, waste reduction and fuel economy. The Green Portfolio Project was initially well received, but the companies who were participating did not realize the full benefits of the project until the head of the project and global public affairs, Ken Mehlman, assessed the project following a full year in operation.

Much to everybody’s surprise, Ken discovered that this program not only raised environmental awareness, but was increasing the profits from all their business organizations too. Nearly all of the commercial organizations owned by Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co and Ken Mehlman now are actively involved in eco-efficiency. Considering that this portfolio of business organizations has a net worth of virtually $100 billion USD, you can see what an enormous feat this is.

The Green Portfolio project has grown far beyond its original remit and at present includes new and groundbreaking enterprises. For example, KKR linked up with the Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps Program that instructs students taking an MBA how to develop and initiate cost efficient, planet friendly practices.

KKR and Ken Mehlman have taken the time to create a series of analytic tools which evaluate and oversee various resources. This type of data is critical as businesses may easily measure their day to day procedures and ascertain exactly how they can improve while at the same time permitting them to determine how much they have progressed.

Henry Kravis, the KKC, and the Environmental Defense Fund have encouraged all sorts of businesses to decrease their ecological impact. So, to summarize, the work of these organizations has made green business techniques not only viable, but commercially desirable, and their novel ideas are setting a new standard in the competitive business world of today.