Strategies for Sustainable Supply Chains

Companies today need to create positive economic, social and environmental impact — in ways that are profitable. Our current economic model is inefficient, much of what we produce ends up as waste. Only a fraction of the value we put into making things is recovered after use. With finite resources and volatile commodity prices, this must change, and it must change in a way that also drives profitability.

We believe the Circular Economy will be an increasingly disruptive force, and that businesses need to understand the opportunities and challenges it presents. CO₂ prices, Globalization strategies and SEC reporting Manufacturing industries will increasingly face the CO₂ reduction challenge. The SEC has recently proposed the adoption of sustainability reporting. And just this past Sunday, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California said that he would sign a landmark climate bill that passed the state’s legislature last week requiring major companies to publicly disclose their greenhouse gas emissions, a move with national and global repercussions. The new law will require about 5,000 companies to report the amount of greenhouse gas pollution that is directly emitted by their operations and also the amount of indirect emissions from things like employee travel, waste disposal and supply chains.

Most companies will face an immediate compliance failure as they have never measured their net emissions. Getting this right is of strategic interest – especially as those changes do impact on global production footprints and supply chains, requiring firms to re-evaluate business cases of the entire product portfolio.