Explain the significance of an organization assessing green performance measures. For example, think of
a large retailer you are familiar with and think about the green initiatives and/or programs they employ.
How do they recycle, reclaim, or initiate green processes? Why is this significant? How does this impact
their overall logistical system or supply chain?
The significance of an organization assessing green performance measures
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Environmental issues are rapidly becoming useful concerns in the supply chain.
Companies believe that green initiatives are essential in gaining competitiveness (Mutingi,
Mapfaira & Monageng.2014). For instance, Walmart has an environmental strategy that span
years, as such, the company is committed to fulfilling the needs of customers that prefer green
products at affordable cost. In its green initiative, Walmart seeks to cut down greenhouse
emission gases in its operations by about 18% by 2025. Besides, the company seeks to reduce
landfills in major markets including the United States and Canada. Again, Walmart plans to use
clean and renewable energy sources. The firm’s green initiative also uses an emission reduction
plan approved by the Science-Based Targets in collaboration with the 2015 Paris Climate
Agreement. It also works with its suppliers to lower emissions by roughly one gigaton by 2030
(Walmart, 2016).
Although the firm is engaged in recycling and reclaiming fibers, metal and plastics, it is
also to create super sandwich bales. The super sandwich bales include various forms of
recyclable bales that are convenient for retailers. Furthermore, the company has improved the
concept of Super Sandwich bale to an extent where it can compact about 31 recyclable materials
that are then attached using corrugated fiber. The bales are picked and transported to material
recovery facilities (MRFs) across the US. The MRFs process the material that is sold to generate
revenue for the company.
Apart from non-eligible super sandwiching such as glass, polystyrene plastics, wooden
pallets and clothing items, the firm has return centers for recycling and reuse. As the largest retail
store, Walmart adheres to environmental protection agency (EPA) to manage organics. For
instance, the organization donates food to people, use organics to make animal feeds, compost or
to generate energy (Walmart, 2016). Another green process used by Walmart is waste reduction
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initiative. Walmart aims are reducing plastic shopping bags in its stores (Walmart, 2016). This
would help the company save about USD 9 billion, which is used to deliver plastic wastes to
landfills. The reduction programs also help the company to eliminate 290,000 tons of GHG and
energy saving.
The company uses, reduce, reuse and recycle program for plastics. The company
collaborates with its suppliers and has since recycled approximately 1.2 million pounds of
recovered cooking oil into soap, supplement for animal feeds and biodiesel (Walmart, 2016). The
plastics were gathered from 690 restaurants and stores in Mexico. For instance, its suppliers are
required to reduce the number of plastics used for making bags and proper loading at checkout to
decrease the amount of bags for each trip. Consequently, Walmart encourages clients to use
reusable shopping bags by creating awareness and educating them about the importance of reuse
of the environment. The company is also attempting to increase the quantity of the recycled
plastics.
The supply chain has emerged as the central component for organizations to gain
competitiveness. Therefore, the green initiative has helped Walmart to use it as a competitive
tool over its competitors, reduce environmental footprints and increase profit margins (Bag,
Anand & Pandey, 2017). The use of the green initiative also enabled Walmart to analyze its
supply chain and review its operations expenses. In particular, it has enabled the company to
identify not only the process but also effectively use available resources to meet customer
demands. Additionally, the initiative has allowed Walmart to reduce energy expenses and GHG;
reduce wastes and increase the quality that in turn reduces logistics expenses. Again, the green
initiative enables the organization to ensure that material sources are sustainable and help in
identifying supply chain inefficiencies.
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References
Bag, S., Anand, N., & Pandey, K. K. (2017). Green Supply Chain Management Model for
Sustainable Manufacturing Practices. In Green Supply Chain Management for
Sustainable Business Practice (pp. 153-189). IGI Global.
Mutingi, M., Mapfaira, H., & Monageng, R. (2014). Developing performance management
systems for the green supply chain. Journal of Remanufacturing, 4(1), 6.
Wal-Mart Stores, (2016). Global Responsibility Report.
