Du Pont is an excellent example of an organisation that transformed from a frequent polluter to a best practice sustainable manufacturer and at the same time made huge improvements to their bottom line.

Du Pont was founded in 1802 in the USA as a gunpowder manufacturer. Du Pont is now a Global Science company operating in 70 countries with 60,000 employees. The company was responsible for the invention of neoprene, polyester, polymer, nylon and Teflon. In the 1980s they were regarded as one of biggest carbon emitters in USA, constantly being fined and prosecuted by the EPA. In 1990 they introduced an Environmental Management. Over the next 25 years, despite growing by 26% globally, they:

• decreased their global C02 emissions by 62%
• improved air quality by 26%
• reduced energy consumption by 7%
• In the process they saved $3b in global operating costs and in an amazing turnaround they were ranked No. 1 in the "US Top Green Companies" list in 2005.

Source:

http://www2.dupont.com/Our_Company/en_AU/glance/sus_growth/sus_growth.html