Steve Robinson is the owner of Utopia Green, a business designed to help companies in the printing and packaging industry grow green, lean and prosperous. As an experienced professional in many different printing processes he has a broad knowledge of the environmental opportunities and challenges facing this industry. He has enjoyed significant business success and brings a "business case" sensibility to all his sustainability projects.
Prior to founding Utopia Green, Steve was the Senior Vice President of Sustainability for Cinram International, the world’s largest manufacturer of pre-recorded CD’s and DVD’s. He was the leader of Cinram’s Environmental Responsibility Council (CERC), a diverse group of 16 managers from Cinram plants around the world. The CERC indentified a list of critical environmental focus areas and set improvement goals for each area. The team then created and implemented a broad range of specific improvement projects within each focus area. The following is a sample of these projects:
- Reduced electricity use at one major plant by 14% annually
- Organized an electronic waste program, insuring that all e-waste was handled properly
- Adopted a reconditioned pallet program, which reduced materials to landfills and reduced pallet costs in some areas by 114%
- Increased the value of materials sold to recyclers by 6%
- Created a computer shut down policy, saving approximately $150 per computer per year
- Implemented an Environmentally Restricted Substances process, insuring hazardous materials were excluded from Cinram’s supply chain, thereby avoiding government and customer sanctions
When the economy began to falter in 2008, he helped focus the CERC’s efforts on eco-efficiency projects that would yield the best bottom line results with little or no investment. This approach to sustainability remains valid in today’s challenging economy.
Steve also created a green employee training program for Cinram and facilitated the sharing of environmental “best practices” among the plants. He championed sustainable packaging for the recorded media industry through the use of the Wal-Mart Sustainable Packaging Scorecard. Steve was the leader of the entertainment industry’s response to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, resulting in a simple and cost-effective compliance plan.
Steve held various senior level positions within Ivy Hill, a printing and packaging subsidiary of Cinram. He was a leader in Ivy Hill’s Deming-inspired continuous improvement efforts and ISO 9001 certification. He is experienced in production management, purchasing and scheduling. He developed a separate division that produced boxed sets for the CD and DVD industry, outdoor advertising materials and displays. This division grew rapidly, required virtually no capital investment and little senior management oversight. This required becoming expert in a wide variety of print and packaging processes and managing a diverse team of international suppliers. This remains a very successful and profitable division within Ivy Hill.
Steve holds an MBA from Pepperdine University and a BA (Cinema & Photography) from Southern Illinois University. He is active in the Media & Entertainment Services Alliance and a member of the Natural Resources Defense Council.