With more than 35 years of business, sustainability, and environmental, health, and safety (EHS) leadership experience, John Platko serves as the vice president of SWCA’s Sustainability and Management Consulting service. He develops and executes strategies, plans, and programs that prioritize the creation of business, environment, and social value simultaneously for a diverse range of clients, including multinational companies in the food, beverage, consumer product, energy and manufacturing sectors.
John has led projects in more than 40 countries in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. He is a thought leader and problem solver on topics such as business sustainability and resilience, water security and water stewardship, decarbonization, circularity and waste management, environmental and social impact measurement and monitoring, and operational environmental, health, and safety (EHS) risk and performance management in developed and emerging economies. Additionally, John co-developed the Return on Sustainability Investment (ROSI) model with the New York University (NYU) Stern Center for Sustainable Business (CSB), which through business case and monetization tools enable better, more sustainable investment and resource allocation decisions.
Prior to consulting, John served on the corporate environmental staff for Scott Paper Company and Bristol-Myers Squibb and was a facility-level environmental engineer and safety director for a multi-site manufacturing operation. His current clients include Global 1000 organizations in the food and beverage, consumer products, energy, manufacturing and business-to-business sectors.
Publications & Presentations
- (2022) Water Risks – Strengthening Supply Chain Resilience with Arca Continental | NYU Stern CSB Practice Forum
- (2021) Why Sustainability Matters | SAMA
- (2020) Building the Business Case for Sustainability | NYU Stern CSB Practice Forum
- (2020) Using the ROSI Framework to Value Accelerated Decarbonization | Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Columbia Business School
- (2016) Scenarios: The Future of Sustainability in the Beverage Industry in 2025; Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable
- (2014) Monetizing Sustainability Investments for Business Decision Making | Environmental Leader
Education
- M.S., Environmental Science, Florida Institute of Technology
- B.S., Aquatic Environments, Allegheny College
Areas of Expertise
- Sustainability Strategy and Plans
- Materiality Assessments
- Collective Action Facilitation’
- Return on Sustainability Investment
- Sustainable and Resilient Value Chains
- Data, Disclosure, Reporting, and Strategic Communications
- Waste and Circularity
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