Cleaner Production should be a compulsory class in business studies

At least, the financial benefits in business decision making alone, let alone, the environmental benefits, should be understood by all business students, just like all business students learn basic micro & macro economics, contract law, basic accounting and management etc. The returns on investments in cleaner production are often a lot faster than the ROI for investing in say people, technology, new marketing initiatives.
E.g. Case Study: Cleaner Production in Printed Circuit Manufacture
The audit team undertook pollution investigation, assessment and technical and economic feasibility analysis and generated 14 options for pollution prevention and minimization of copper concentration in the waste water. 12 options, were implemented.
*Consumption of metal materials (copper laminates and anode, etc. decreased by 9.4%;
*Water consumption reduced by 21% and waste water generation by 5,300 tons/year;
*The amount of copper contained in waste water was decreased by 139kg;
*The economic savings were RMB 0.3 million (US$35,000 approx)annually. More egs click here. Next step would be teaching potential managers how to ensure such systems are managed well to be maintained for ongoing future financial and environmental benefits. The environmental benefits have an ROI beyond just the economic savings mentioned above. They reduce risk of retalliation from communities, local governments, NGOs etc for pollution, as well as provide a firm with an opportunity to market their product at a slight premium for their better environmental management (if the marketing is managed carefully).