The Importance of Industrial Ecology and Design for Environment to AT&T

AT&T recognizes that industrial ecology and design for environment (DFE) are crucial competencies that are vital now, and they will become keys to corporate success in the next century. The importance of these competencies is based on the following three fundamental considerations: the need to control environmental compliance costs; the need to meet customer requirements and demands; and the need to enlarge market access and generate continuous competitive advantage. Over the long term, environmental competence and offerings—especially in services that reduce material and energy consumption—will become increasingly important, and they will ensure that AT&T continues in a leadership position into the next century. Thus, all AT&T stakeholders—including customers, employees, shareowners, and the communities within which AT&T has a presence—attach crucial importance to both industrial ecology and DFE. In short, environmental concerns that once were considered overhead now have assumed strategic importance.