A proposal for a green supply chain strategy
Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management
JIEM
2013-0953
A Proposal for a Green Supply Chain Strategy
Carola Pinto Taborga
Amaia Lusa
Anna Maria Coves
Universitat Polit?cnica de Catalunya (Spain)
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to establish a set of steps for helping companies to create a Green Supply Chain Strategy based on the reduction of their carbon footprint. The aim is to put forward a simple guideline that companies can follow and guide them in achieving their carbon emission targets, as well as obtaining attractive supply chain savings. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a literature review and benchmarking this paper proposes a methodology based on three pillars: 1) Corporate Carbon Strategy; 2) Carbon emission roadmap; and 3) Implementation and tracking. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) techniques were used in order to create a green strategy and support the decision-making processes to select the most interesting alternatives for carbon emission reduction and supply chain savings. The supply chain of a metallurgical company is used to illustrate the case study where the proposed methodology is used. The criteria used for the carbon alternatives selection was based on three factors: 1) the supply chain cost of the alternative; 2) carbon emission impact in terms of CO2 tonnes; and 3) marketing effect. Findings: The paper identifies some specific steps for developing a Green Supply Chain Strategy. The case study developed, demonstrates the importance of following a proper methodology based on a set of steps, it also demonstrates that some alternatives focus on improving the supply chain, such as the facilities location, can also improve the key performance indicator related with carbon emission. Originality/value: The study provides guidance for manufacturing companies in implementing their Green Supply Chain Strategy.
green supply chain; carbon dioxide emissions; ahp; green supply chain management
1. Introduction
Global climate change is one of the most controversial and complex topics that society is confronting today and its
impact on industry is currently important but will soon be enormous. In order to deal with this critical situation, a
climate change accord, ?The Paris agreement?, was signed by nearly 200 countries in December 2015; the
agreement came into force in November 2016. The main point of the Paris agreement is to keep global warming
below 2?C and it encourages world leaders to have a long-term goal for net zero emissions, which would effectively
phase out fossil fuels.
Understanding the role of industry in the climate change, the business community is also supporting the Paris
Climate Agreement. The last Conference of Parties (COP22) had the contribution of 350 companies, all of them
reiterating their strong support for the Agreement. Companies are thinking more and more about emitting less CO2
in their business activities, firstly to support world agreements, secondly because it is a good way of reducing
overheads. Moreover, endorsing a carbon strategy can promote a competitive advantage and help them stand out
against their competitors. According to some research (Carbon Trust, 2012), over 65% of consumers think that it is
important to buy from environmentally responsible companies, which means that it can be taken as a very good
marketing strategy.
Certainly, the concept of climate change is generating actions at governmental and business level; therefore,
companies need to adapt their strategy and use this trend to generate a competitive advantage. Consequently, there
is a need to support companies and decision makers in this field.
Some guidance and standards have been developed to help companies to design effective strategies for reducing
carbon emissions. One of these tools is the GHG Protocol
(WBCSD/WRI, 2004)
and another is ISO 14064
(International Organization for Standardization, 2006) which is coherent and compatible with the GHG Protocol.
In general terms, ISO 14064 identifies the ?What? and the GHG Protocol the ?How? and ?Why?. ISO 14064 is
oriented towards audits, while the GHS protocol is oriented towards providing a set of options for reducing carbon
emission. Moreover, Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) methodology is useful for evaluating the environmental impact
associated with a product, process or activity (Franchetti & Apul, 2012).
In general, in this context, there are two main schools of research: the first one considers the LCA evaluation,
where the total environmental footprint (in terms of CO2 emissions) of a product or a service is considered; the
second approach, normally based on GHG protocol, aims to quantify the carbon footprint of an organisation,
rather than a product or a service itself. Due to the nature of this guidance an organizational level approach, based
on the GHG protocol, is taken.
The involvement of the scientific, political, economic, and social communities in environmental issues is increasing
steadily. Simulta (...truncated)