Green Supply Chain Management, defined as integrating environmental thinking into supply chain management, includes product design, sourcing and material selection, manufacturing processes and the final product delivery to consumers, and the product end-of-life management after its useful life.
A more sustainable supply chain is correspondingly a reduced amount of wasteful supply chain; reducing waste can reduce the total cost of a company business while improving the industry reputation.
The recent creation of Sustainable Development departments in companies, and the greater importance dedicated to environmental issues by business management, has allowed a better understanding of the regulatory mechanisms and their consequences.
Two of the main reasons for the business implementation of environmental activities are to improve the brand image and obtain executive sponsorship. The company management boards support facilitates the financing and implementation of green projects.
The escalating motivation of companies to improve practices shows that they are becoming more mature about ecological problems. Recent studies estimated that more than 66% of companies had intensified their actions favouring and protecting the environment in the last five years.
For the successful implementation of green practices, leaders must have careful management of the risks possible present. For example, in the marketing of manufactured products, the environmental impact of suppliers can represent up to 95% of the total impact of companies.
Sustainable contracting includes aspects such as green contracting that eliminates waste in the supply chain. These social concerns imply better conditions for workers or the acquisition of goods in an ethical way.
Ecological supply chain management spans the entire organisation: its business partners and the purchasing, manufacturing, material management, distribution, and Reverse Logistics processes.
The standards are the set of the amount of energy and natural resources used, the number of emissions caused by air and water pollution, and the waste foodstuffs resulting from the consumption of each product.
The benefits of these environmental protection mechanisms encompass green initiatives such as green material use, sustainable organic production, reverse logistics, closed-loop supply chains and green procurement to ensure sustainability for present and future generations.
Environmental design involves designing a product to minimise environmental impact throughout the product life-cycle. Such a product is a "green product" produced through a "green manufacturing" process.
A green product is a good or service that minimises cost outsourcing and pollution. The process includes the design for reuse, disassembly and remanufacturing. Thus, green manufacturing produces a good or service that minimises external costs and pollution.
In the pursuit of green manufacturing, governments, corporations, and societies must commit to refusing, reducing, reusing, recycling and redesigning products to achieve waste and pollution reduction and sustainable quality of life.
Final comment: it is essential to consider that Green Supply Management focuses on improving productivity and environmental performance for sustainable development in any industry to achieve a competitive advantage.
Is your company establishing a Green Supply Management to improve productivity?
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