Greening Your Supply Chain and Meeting Your Sustainability Objectives Presented by Chief Science Officer Corporate Express, A Staples Company
What is the environment? Imagine a snapshot photo of the environment and describe what you see!
Current Status of the Environment Decline Fisheries Wetlands Top Soil Forests Increase Population Garbage Pollution Toxic Synergism
Population Increase Net population increase of 170 people per minute. 10 billion by year 2050
Garbage Increase In year 1990, average American generated 2.5 lbs of garbage. Today each American generates nearly 5.0 lbs of garbage.
Plastic Beverage Bottles 24 million plastic beverage bottles are discarded every minute in the U.S.
Plastic Bags 750,000 plastic bags are used and discarded every minute in the U.S.
Recycled Plastic is Not Solving Problem Only 3% of plastic is recycled in U.S.
Cell Phone Garbage 420,000 cell phones are retired each day in the U.S.
Bioaccumulation in the Human Body 287 Tests show 287 industrial chemicals in 10 newborn babies Among the 287 chemicals found in the study, 134 can cause cancer, 151 can cause birth defects, 154 can cause hormone disruption, 186 are associated with infertility and 130 affect the immune system
Synthetic (Man Made) Chemicals in Food Can you guess what food product these are found in? HALOGENATED COMPOUNDS chlorodifluoromethane chlorotrifluoromethane dichlorofluoromethane chloromethane trichlorofluoromethane dichloroethylene Freon 113 methylene chloride chloroform 1,1,1 trichloroethane carbon tetrachloride trichloroethylene chloropentane chlorobenzene iodopentane 3-methyl-1-iodobutance chloroethylbenzene dibromodichloromethane dichlorobenzene chlorodecane trichlorobenzene ALDEHYDES acetaldehyde methyl propanal n-butantal methylbutanal crotoaldehyde n-penanal n-hexanal furaldehyde n-heptanal benzaldehyde n-octanal phenyl acetaldehyde n-nonanal methyl furaldehyde n-decanal n-undecanal n-dodecanal KETONES acetone methyl ethyl ketone methyl propyl ketone methyl vinyl ketone ethyl vinyl ketone 2-pentanone methyl pentanone methyl hydrofuranone 2-methyl-3-hexanone 4-heptaonone 3-heptaonone 2- heptaonone methyl heptaonone furyl methyl ketone octanone acetaphenone 2-nonanone 2-decananone alkylated lactone phthalide OXYGENATED ISOMERS C4H6O C4H8O C5H10 O C4H6O2 C6H12 O C7H10 O C7H14 O2 C6H6O2 C6H14 O2 C6H16 O C7H8O2 C7H10 O2
TOXIC TOYS Direct Impact of Poor Product Design
Direct Impact of Poor Product Design EXAMPLE: Lead Poisoning: February 2006 A four year old boy died of lead poisoning after swallowing the charm from a silver bracelet that came with a pair of Reebok children s shoes. While the Consumer Products Safety Commission advises no more than 0.06% lead in jewelry sold in the US, the charm consisted of 99% lead. Reebok Recalls Bracelet Linked to Child's Lead Poisoning Death
Toxic Substances in Professional Cleaning Products CHEMICAL OF CONCERN CAS NUMBER PRODUCT TYPES HAZARD Formaldehyde 50-00-0 Hand soaps, finishes and sealers CARCINOGEN Crystalline Silica Quartz 14464-46-1 Floor sweeping compounds CARCINOGEN Trichloroethane 1,1,1 71-55-6 Carpet spotters, laundry spotters and graffiti removers CARCINOGEN Paradichlorobenzene 106-46-7 Urinal blocks CARCINOGEN Amaranth (Red dye #2) 915-67-3 Colorant CARCINOGEN Saffrole 94-59-7 Fragrance CARCINOGEN Hydrofluoric Acid 7664-39-3 Mineral stain removers HIGHLY CORROSIVE Hydrochloric Acid 7647-01-0 Toilet bowl cleaners HIGHLY CORROSIVE Phosphoric Acid 7664-38-2 Toilet bowl cleaners; Tub and Tile Cleaners HIGHLY CORROSIVE Sodium Hydroxide 1310-73-2 Highly duty cleaners; Wax strippers and degreasers. HIGHLY CORROSIVE Potassium Hydroxide 1310-58-3 Oven cleaners and drain openers HIGHLY CORROSIVE Ammonium Hydroxide 1336-21-6 Wax strippers, all purpose cleaners and glass cleaners. INHALATION IRRITANT 2-butoxyethanol 111-76-2 Used in wax strippers, floor cleaners and kitchen degreasers. CAN CAUSE KIDNEY AND LIVER DAMAGE. SKIN ABSORBER
What is our alternative? How can we solve or deal with these problems?
We Need to Change the Way We Think, Design and Do Things We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. -- Albert Einstein
Greening your supply chain moves you from compliance to value creation Traditional Supply Chain Management Basic Compliance Minimize Risk Greening Your Supply Chain Value creation Promote innovation Build credibility Improve productivity
Obstacles and barriers to greening our supply chain Confusion about definition of green. Too complex and expensive to manage. Product manufacturer reluctance to be transparent about full disclosure of chemicals in products. Lack of affordable access to credible environmental, health and safety information about products and chemicals. Perception that green products are too expensive or don t perform. Customers unwillingness to pay for environmental quality. Typical resistance to change
Where to begin your journey? Study green supply chain best practices Align your green supply chain goals with your business goals Use green supply chain analysis to encourage innovation View the supply chain as a single life cycle system and include stakeholders throughout your entire supply chain Focus on source reduction to reduce waste Initially prioritize your product assortment based on available resources and lowest hanging fruit and focus on highest hazard and largest volume Use sustainable design strategies Understand total cost and vote with your dollars
What is the cost? Write down on a piece of paper the cost of the last automobile you purchased.
What was the cost of the last automobile you purchased? Did you include the cost of auto insurance? Did you include cost of financing? Did you add the cost of fuel? Did you include the cost of regulatory compliance? Did you include the cost of maintenance? Did you include the cost of depreciation?
Four Effective Interconnected Sustainable Design Strategies Sustainability Strategy Cradle-to-Cradle Design Strategy Design for the Environment (DfE) Strategy Green Chemistry and Green Engineering Strategy
Three Strong Strands of Sustainability Economic prosperity Environmental quality Social Equity
Four Effective Interconnected Sustainable Design Strategies Sustainability Strategy Cradle-to-Cradle Design Strategy EPA Design for the Environment Strategy Green Chemistry and Green Engineering Strategy
Remaking the way we make things William McDonough Michael Braungart
Four Effective Interconnected Sustainable Design Strategies Sustainability Strategy Cradle-to-Cradle Design Strategy EPA Design for the Environment Strategy Green Chemistry and Green Engineering Strategy
Example of Design for Environment Strategy Surfactants Of Concern Improved Sustainable Alkyl phenol Ethoxylates degrade to more toxic and persistent byproducts Linear Alcohol Ethoxylates degrade readily to less toxic byproducts Alkyl polyglycosides are less toxic and degrade to nontoxic byproducts Source: EPA Design for the Environment (DfE)
Four Effective Interconnected Sustainable Design Strategies Sustainability Strategy Cradle-to-Cradle Design Strategy EPA Design for the Environment Strategy Green Chemistry and Green Engineering Strategy
Green Chemistry Green Chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes to reduce and/or eliminate substances hazardous to human health and the environment*. *Anastas, P.T. and J. Warner. 1999. Green Chemistry Theory and Practice
Five Pillar Foundation For Building Your Green Supply Chain CUSTOMERS PEOPLE SUPPLIERS ENVIRONMENT COMMUNITY
Greening Your Supply Chain Helps Your Customers Meet Their Green Objectives Make a commitment to build your business strategy around sustainability and environmental stewardship Embrace sustainability as a core cultural value is good, smart business Offer green products and services Specify more sustainable facility and cleaning supplies and processes Specify more sustainable fixtures and furniture Paperless online ordering National recycling programs for catalogs, toner and inkjet cartridges Offer or sponsor sustainable learning events
Greening Your Supply Chain Helps Attract and Retain High Performance Employees Creates a healthier workplace Foster diversity Strictly adhere to ethical business practices Promote professional development
Greening Your Supply Chain Means Ensuring Your Suppliers Do Their Part Actively seek suppliers who offer environmentally preferable products Are committed to greening their supply chain Adhere to third-party certification standards Use sustainable chemical sourcing to reduce toxic substances in their supply chain
Greening Your Supply Chain Means Smaller Environmental Footprint Change to 30% or higher post-consumer recycled paper in operations and print marketing LEED certification of new and existing facilities Renewable energy credits for operations Establish recycling and composting programs Reduce fuel use in vehicles by using smart route planning Alternative fuels and diesel hybrid-electric truck to reduce fuel use
Greening Our Supply Chain Means Helping Communities Sponsor local, national and global charitable organizations Strongly encourage and support your employees in volunteering Actively support programs at the community level Participate in waste clean up activities (SOLV etc.) Sponsor or participate in community sustainability educational programs
"There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction." John F. Kennedy (1917 1963) 35th president of the United States
THANK YOU