30 WESTERN PALLET
New Report from Wharton, IGEL and CHEP Covers a “Revolution in the Making: The Quest for Net Positive Supply Chains”
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership (IGEL) and CHEP have released a special report on a “transformative vision” to improve the environment by improving supply chains worldwide. The report explains what the net positive movement is, core strategies, progress made, and what that means for complex, global supply chains.
As the report illustrates, net positive supply chains do more than reducing a company’s carbon footprint: They restore and regenerate natural resources that the world and business need to thrive long-term. With that “net positive” result as a global goal, “A Revolution in the Making” begins with the concept that being less bad is no longer good enough.
“If you are an organization that depends upon natural resources or an organization where social cohesion is critical to the operation of your business, simply minimizing impacts isn’t going to sustain your operation long-term,” said Sally Uren, CEO of Forum for the Future. “Net positive is about rebuilding those assets you’re totally reliant on as a business.”
“CHEP customers use our pallets over and over again, so our business model has always contributed to a more sustainable supply chain, increasing efficiencies while eliminating waste, CO2 and reducing the use of natural resources,” said Juan Jose Freijo, global head of sustainability for Brambles. “We are always looking for ways to do even more.”
“There’s a time pressure to all this,” cautioned Joe Murphy, Circular Economy 100 Network (CE100) lead at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. “We’re pushing the limits of planetary boundaries, so success is a necessity.”
“A Revolution in the Making: The Quest for Net Positive Supply Chains” includes four sections: Being Less Bad is No Longer Good Enough; Collaboration is Key to Net Positive Results; Four Principles for Creating Net Positive Supply Chains; and Net Positive Supply Chains: How far have we gone? How much further do we need to go? The special report is free to download here.