An Assessment of the Adoption of Environmental Sustainability Practices and Their Effects on Performance in Selected Industrial Enterprises in Nairobi and Eldoret

Abstract

The study assessed the environmental sustainability practices and their effects on performance in selected industrial enterprises in Nairobi and Eldoret. The study was guided by the following objectives: to examine the existing environmental sustainability practices in the sampled enterprises; to examine the effects of environmental sustainability practices on the performance of sample enterprises and to evaluate the challenges associated with the adoption environmentally sustainable practices. This study used a multi-case study approach to collect data from select 27 industrial enterprises in the study areas, which had adopted environmental sustainability practices. Primary data were collected using structured questionnaires and the researcher also reviewed publicly available secondary data to inform the study objectives. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and hypotheses tested using the Chi-square test of independence and the Spearman’s Rank correlation coefficient. The findings of the study indicate the environmental sustainability practices mostly adopted by the enterprises are the use of renewable energy (81.48%) and the commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions (70.37%). On the relationship between sustainability practices and performance, the study found out that more than half of the respondents (51.85%) indicated they had recorded increased revenue while 40.74% had experienced rise in employee satisfaction. A large proportion of the respondents (74.07%) indicated that weak government legislation was the greatest challenge to the adoption of industrial sustainability practices. The study concluded that green and ISO 14001 certifications, sustainable supply chain, policy and regulations are some of the key areas that need most attention by both industries and governments. The study recommends that government agencies that oversee environmental regulations and promote best practices in industries should come up with adequate legislation and offer training that incentivize industries to adopt these environmental sustainability practices.