Ann Arbor Township's NSF International appoints Malcolm Fox director of sustainability programs
Malcolm Fox
In the newly created position with the not-for-profit firm, Fox will lead NSF's environmental standards efforts and help NSF's clients address future carbon regulations.
“NSF can bring its great assets of transparency and integrity into play" to help companies certify their environmental sustainability efforts, he said.
Fox's appointment comes as NSF, which has more than 400 employees at its headquarters, is developing expertise in the emerging environmental standards segment. The firm's 4-year-old carbon emissions certification division could benefit from an international push to force companies to measure their carbon footprint.
Fox was appointed to the position after previously serving as vice president of Trucost North America, an environmental data provider. At Trucost, he managed the integration of that company’s environmental footprinting capabilities into NSF International's existing portfolio of sustainability services.
Fox also founded two companies specializing in supply chain management and automotive compliance in the U.S. and U.K. and is the former president of the Michigan Association of Environmental Professionals.
“Using both his financial and environmental expertise, Malcolm can provide businesses with strategic solutions on how to manage their environmental performance more effectively,” said NSF President and CEO Kevan Lawlor in a news release announcing the appointment.
NSF specializes in certifying products and writing standards for food, water and consumer goods. In addition to those services, NSF International’s sustainability programs have been growing over the last few years, Fox said. Sustainability services include standards development and certification for sustainable products, greenhouse gas verification and evaluation of environmental footprints. NSF serves as a third-party organization that evaluates and substantiates carbon emission and product claims.
Fox said NSF already has “a great brand presence” and his job will be to project NSF’s many “wonderful resources” into the marketplace and position NSF as a leader in sustainability.
His vision for the company’s sustainability programs includes two main components, Fox said. One is to establish standards for programs associated with the growing field of sustainability, whether they are for supply chains or products.
Confusion in the marketplace over "green" products means consumers are “not empowered to make informed purchasing decisions,” Fox said.
Secondly, he said he will focus on assuring the legitimacy of green product claims and keeping companies accountable so that data reported in the market place is accurate.
“There’s growing confusion in the marketplace, an awful lot of green labels, an awful lot of environmental claims being made,” Fox said, adding that while many of these claims are accurate, others are “less so.”
NSF’s job, Fox said, is to bring order to the system, increase levels of trust, increase levels of transparency and eliminate confusion by “creating credible and transparent sustainability services.”
Fox said that as director of sustainability programs, he expects to grow NSF in two directions: gaining new clients and providing additional sustainability services to its existing clientele.
“Sustainability is a fascinating… and complicated area,” he said.
Fox said he’s been interested in environmental issues almost from the start of his career, partly because he finds the issues intellectually challenging, but also because they matter to him personally. He said consumers can’t solve environmental issues alone, and there has to be a collaboration with business.
Fox said working in the area of sustainability is rewarding, and that doing it with NSF, which has made a public commitment to making a positive impact on the environment, is “doubly appealing.”
Sarah Rigg is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at sarahrigg@yahoo.com.