Turning a company’s supply chain green should no longer be viewed as a challenge but a billion dollar business opportunity, according to DHL Supply Chain.
In its latest white paper titled ‘Closing the Loop’, DHL has called for businesses to reassess their supply chains and the cost of going green. One case study used is Proctor and Gamble, who witnessed cost savings of around $1 billion after working with its supply chain partners to reduce CO2 emissions and the amount of waste produced.
Chris Jackson, Vice President for DHL Supply Chain’s Envirosolutions, says, “The environmental supply chain has fast become an opportunity and necessity for companies.
“Companies demonstrating best practice are driving down costs and saving millions while also ensuring their business is up to the standard of modern compliance measures which can potentially incur damages if not.”
He adds that companies should look to employ a Lead Environmental Partner to control the output of the supply chain and to identify any additional environmental and economic opportunities.
DHL’s white paper says there are three major forces driving the shift towards a greener supply chain: escalating consumer presence, the squeeze from compliance and the desire to improve efficiencies and lower costs.
Simon Potter, Business Director of Envirosolutions Europe at DHL, said, “Legislative and cost imperatives are pushing companies to think about waste and recycling. It’s only going in one direction – reduce waste as much as possible.”
Commercial vehicle fleet operators will be looking at how to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced, with the logistics and transportation sector accounting for 5.5% (2,800 megatonnes) of CO2 emissions.
The report suggests that many attempt to turn their supply chain green by focusing on ‘low hanging fruit’ such as reducing energy consumption in warehouses and switching to more efficient transportation modes.
However, hauliers can benefit by going one step further by designing a cost-efficient transport approach, with a set of collection points or regular pickups that are managed through a control tower approach, so as to limit the amount of fuel used and emissions produced.
