ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND THE PERFORMANCE OF PLASTIC MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA.

Abstract

The earth is the home for human; as such it should be cherished by all. The activities of manufacturing firms by burning of fossil fuels and releasing of energy to the atmosphere should be put to a halt, if we intend to live in a healthy environment. The earth cannot be crying for excess usage of its natural resources, and at same time be confronted with pollutions. The activities of improper and unethical waste management processes have affected the progress of manufacturing firms, and if not addressed immediately, achieving sustainable development will be far reached. This study was carried out to examine the relationship between environmental sustainability and the performance of plastic manufacturing firms in Enugu State, Nigeria. The descriptive survey research design method was adopted. The study was conducted in Enugu state of Nigeria which housed seven (7) plastic manufacturing firms and a population element of 1,043, the Borg & Gall formula: n= [(Zx) 2 (e) (N)] was adopted to obtain the sample size for the study. However, the sample size for the study was 200. A structured likert questionnaire was employed. Similarly, the researcher used information from the literatures that were studied to create the instrument.  The hypotheses of the study were tested using the Paired Sample T-test included in SPSS version 23. The findings of the study showed that there is a significant positive relationship between recycling and net profit margin, and also that there is no significant relations between incineration and customer satisfaction. However, the study concluded that plastic manufacturing firms should invest in sustainable operational approaches that yield positive impacts to them, and pay less attention to those approaches that does not impact positively to their operations. Based on the findings, the study recommended amongst others that; by implementing efficient collection techniques and creating markets for recovered plastic waste, plastic companies are being urged to improve their recycling infrastructure and waste management systems. This will save them money, increase their organization's cash flow, and provide employment opportunities for people who land fill empty plastic can.