07 Jun Sustainable Supply Chains

Many environmental professionals and corporations are beginning to take the idea of sustainability to heart. The December 2011 and January 2012 issues of the Air & Waste Management Association's EM magazine are evidence of this as they feature multiple articles on sustainability-related topics. Supply chain management is a significant piece of the picture. The EM article authors see  a clear trend that companies are analyzing the environmental and societal impacts of the sources, or suppliers of the components, chemicals, and raw materials they use to provide products and services. The point of the analysis is to understand and then minimize negative impacts.

Regulatory pressures on multiple levels drive much of this focus on supply chain. Currently there is one European Union (EU) regulation (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals, a.k.a. REACH) that requires reporting all chemicals in products imported into the EU. This means many companies must get product composition information from suppliers. Three other recent regulations target corruption and fair labor issues affecting supply chains: U.S. Conflict Minerals Reporting requirements of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,  U.K. Bribery Act and California Transparency in Supply Chains Act.

Consumer and stakeholder pressures also fuel this trend. The concept of chemical footprint comes into play especially when dealing with these pressures. This is because specific harmful chemicals are often the cause of public outcry and product recalls that damage company reputation. To address potential problems with chemicals in products, companies need chemical footprint analysis that includes a complete, quantitative breakdown of the chemicals used, consumed, produced, or modified
throughout the life cycle of the product and the risks associated with each. There is no standard for chemical footprint analysis yet, but it is on the horizon.

Bottom line is that industry realize it's in their best interest examine their supply chain and develop more sustainable products. And what is a sustainable product? To quote EM article authors Julie Panko Kristen Hitchcock, "A sustainable product is one that limits the consumption of natural resources, utilizes fair labor practices, and minimizes adverse health impacts to humans and the environment throughout its life cycle."