Designing and Evaluating Sustainable Supply Chains: A Carbon Market Oriented Approach

Abstract

Abstract:Increasing regulatory legislations for carbon and waste management and the focus on corporate social responsibility are driving a major focus on supply chain sustainability. In this research, a goal programming model is proposed to address a supply chain design problem with environmental considerations. Carbon emissions (environmental dimension) and total logistics cost (economic dimension) are considered in order to evaluate the supply chain performance. A crucial contribution of our work is that, together with incorporating regulatory environmental constraints such as emissions "cap" and putting a price tag on carbon emissions, we comprehensively model compliance strategies for the supply chain including suppliers and sub-contractors selection, technology acquisition, and transportation modes configuration. The results obtained show that this approach is a viable decision tool and offer a good framework for designing and evaluating efficient and environmental supply chains.