The Role of Green Supply Chain Practices on Environmental Sustainability

Abstract

In the past decade environmental sustainability is one of the major considerations in supply chains all around the world. With noticeable environmental changes, companies couldn’t look past the negative environmental impact of their supply chains. Many customers expect companies to adhere to these sustainable practices to achieve sustainability, not only in the environmental aspect but also in the social aspect as well. The main purpose of the study was to conduct an in-depth analysis on Green Supply Chain Practices (GSCP) and how this environmental sustainability can be achieved through this concept and how Sri Lankan companies embed GSCP into their supply chain to reduce environmental impact. For this, supply chain phases such as procurement, manufacturing, transportation, warehousing, and reverse logistics were considered when developing the framework for the study. In each of these stages it focuses on how the companies can use GSCP to reduce energy consumption, water usage, reduce waste and emissions of the supply chain. The data were collected from Sri Lankan manufacturing companies by referring to secondary sources. Gathered data were analyzed using the narrative analysis method and furthermore the study findings indicated that there is a positive effect on environmental sustainability by the implementation of GSCP.