How organizations are working to address the myriad social, environmental and operational issues that can arise in complex supply chains
The food industry widely recognizes a looming mountain it must climb: By 2050, the world population will grow by more than 2 billion, which will require upward of a 70 percent increase in food production. Along with this rise in demand, companies in ... View More
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) announced today it will be consulting stakeholders on a number of options aimed at providing the market with greater assurance that MSC-certified fisheries and supply chain companies meet internationally accepted ... View More
In the south of Spain, unsustainable water use is threatening Doñana National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of Europe’s most important wetlands. Located southwest of Seville, the Park supports millions of migratory birds and is a stro... View More
Since the “Detox My Fashion” campaign launched in 2011, 76 fashion brands, retailers and suppliers have committed to remove toxic chemicals from their supply chains by 2020, accounting for a combined 15 percent of global textile production. ... View More
It was something of a ‘two steps forward, one step back’ kind of week in the ongoing quest for sustainable sourcing of palm oil — potentially the most prolific and embattled ingredient in the consumer goods industry. First, five multinationals ... View More
Supply Chain Transparency: The Challenge Enough has been said about the importance of transparent supply chains. Today, it is unacceptable for a global brand to ignore fair labor practices. Yet, labor violations continue to occur around the world dai... View More
New research commissioned by Oxfam shows that rice, soy beans, corn, wheat and palm oil together lead to more greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than any country’s individual footprint, with the exception of emissions giants China and the United States... View More
Today, Fairphone announced it is adding conflict-free tungsten from Rwanda into its supply chain. With this achievement, Fairphone has successfully managed to transparently source all four of the conflict minerals (tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold). ... View More
More sustainable cotton has become more widely available thanks to collaborations such as the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) and other programs focused on minimizing the use of highly hazardous pesticides, improving working conditions, addressing bio... View More
When it comes to developing sustainability programs, most brands begin by adding: by introducing “green” practices to their workplace or a recycling component to their manufacturing process. But to truly have impact, sustainability practitioners ... View More
What could be a dry technical presentation on supply chain metrics is immediately derailed, as presenter Scot Case, Training Developer for the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC), elects to depart from the predetermined slide show, and i... View More
As a creative guy sitting between the manager of recycling for a major retailer and a supply chain expert for a large clothing brand, I certainly feel like I am bringing the knife to the metrics gunfight in this session. But the sheer corporate heft ... View More
NGO Rainforest Action Network (RAN) claims it has found many Japanese companies are either “systematically misreporting compliance” under Japan’s Corporate Governance Code, or have a “fundamental lack of understanding as to what constitutes m... View More
NIKE, Inc. has unveiled the latest expansion of its European Logistics Campus in Belgium, to accelerate its drive toward “the supply chain of the future.” The expansion will make Nike’s European operations more efficient, more responsive and mo... View More
BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative) and Sedex have been competitors in the past, but this week, the business-driven initiative and non-profit organization signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to reduce duplication of effort while build... View More
Leading seafood brands, major UK retail chains and some of the world’s largest fishing companies have struck a groundbreaking deal to protect a key Arctic region from industrial fishing for cod. ... View More
Canadian forest-conservation NGO Canopy has announced six new brand partnerships in its successful CanopyStyle initiative, through which more than 65 major fashion brands, designers and retailers have pledged to end the use of ancient and endangered ... View More
According to the USDA, consumer demand for organic foods has grown by double-digits every year since the 1990s — but organic acreage has not kept up. Today, only about one percent of US farmland is organic and farmers looking to transition to organ... View More
Businesses face myriad ongoing challenges: Apart from the day-to-day fluctuations in market dynamics, entrepreneurs must deal with economies of scale, inter- and intra-market competition and regulatory compliance. Yet some voluntary compliance can un... View More
A product will go through multiple points of contact in its lifecycle. From the designer to the manufacturer to transport to the consumer and end of life, each component has an impact. Environmentally and socially responsible supply chain management ... View More