After facing the adverse effects of uncertainties, buyers, suppliers, employees, and investors are becoming increasingly aware of their environmental responsibility. According to Forbes, Climate change and ESG have become business priorities for global supply chains, and there is a strong favor for planet-friendly competition.
A company’s supply chain is the biggest source of carbon emissions and wastefulness, providing great opportunities for rectification and improvement within the supply chain.
What exactly does a sustainable supply chain mean?
A sustainable supply chain means making conscious efforts to make environmental, social, and economical friendly decisions. This can range from optimizing resources in warehousing to transportation and how the company manages its waste creation and disposal.
As companies embark on their sustainability journey, here are the initial steps that organizations can take to be more ecological
Creation of business goals around sustainability:
Setting goals and developing an operational strategy will kick start the process of moving towards sustainability. According to BSR, companies are now taking invitations like 100% recycled plastic, zero deforestation, etc. But achieving these long-term targets is only possible if they are supported by the short-term goals.
Sustainable policies for suppliers and buyers alike:
Recently, MNCs’ willingness to work with suppliers that adhere to social and environmental standards increased. Even companies like L’oreal pledged to decrease CO2 emissions, by focusing on their suppliers’ and buyers’ actions and how they affect the environment. The efforts will subsequently create a domino effect if each company concerns itself with the sustainable practices of its suppliers and buyers.
Taking conscious measures to be more sustainable:
Here companies can start with just simple changes in their supply chains. For example, changing the transportation company and opting for the one that uses cleaner fuel, or better machinery to decrease the pollution created by the factories. These measures can be easily woven into the supply chain strategy, which will significantly impact the environment and will give opportunity to bring more changes.
Using data to develop sustainable business processes:
In our latest white paper, we have discussed the importance of data maturity. This can be helpful to create sustainable processes. Companies can effectively leverage their data and change their policies to have fewer adverse effects on the environment, just like BC Hydro’s own recycling initiative. For example, going through the logistical data, it can be analyzed how to decrease waste, and returns and improve the overall recycling processes. It can also be used to measure progress and have accountability.
Educating the key players in the organization:
The supply chain can not only be sustainable by creating ecological policies. Organizations must train their employees, warehouse workers, supply chain managers, or even resources from different departments to encourage them to be self-conscious. Essentially to build an appetite to create a safe planet and a healthy environment for the generations to come with our individual and collective efforts.
A sustainable supply chain is not a new concept, but it is still evolving with external factors. How are big MNCs implementing and succeeding with sustainable supply chains? What can be done to go the extra mile? Discover in our upcoming webinar, with speakers from BC Hydro, Loreal, BSR, etc >
