SCMRC Home
Research
Events
Board Members
Students
About Us
Research Papers
| Title: | CLOSED-LOOP SUPPLY CHAINS FOR SUSTAINABILITY AND THE ENVIRONMENT |
| Reference #: | SCMR-WP022-0001 |
| Date: | 10/1/2006 |
| Authors: | Suzanne Ozment Terry Tremwel, University of Arkansas |
| Abstract: | IntroductionWorldwide, we process and use 26 billion tons of materials annually, which strains our landfill systems, hurts humans’ health, threatens the earth’s ability to regenerate, and represents a drastic amount of unclaimed value (Brown 2001). This, in addition to a host of other well known environmental threats such as limited energy, global warming, and air pollution, is the product of our society’s requirement for products at convenience. The current industrial production system not only extracts resources from the environment, but also returns pollutants to the same resource reservoir (Brown 2001). Recently, environmental degradation’s effects have gained attention and forced the global community to look towards cultivating a more sustainable economy. The industrial solutions for waste reduction and management thus far have been incremental, unfocused, and incomprehensive. “Greening” solutions such as standard pollution abatement and ISO 14000 international environmental auditing do not attempt to revolutionize the production cycle and will only slow down the accumulation of waste; in “Beyond Greening” solutions, however, there are greater profits to be made from innovating ways to eliminate industrial wastefulness (Hart 2005). By developing a closed loop supply chain (CLSC) where waste becomes potential for origination‧'a cradle to cradle approach, corporations can focus beyond greening and make environmental compatibility a strategically organized profit center. This paper will examine the possibility of applying reverse logistics and CLSC strategies towards a sustainability-focused competitive advantage. |
| Options: |
I would like to request the complete text of this article. |