Industrial ecology, industrial symbiosis and supply chain environmental sustainability: a case study of a large UK distributor

Abstract

The supply chain management literature indicates that limited research has explored the roles of Industrial Ecology and Industrial Symbiosis in relation to supply chain environmental sustainability development. Studies have explored supply chain environmental sustainability development and provided different approaches for developing environmentally sustainable supply chains. These include environmental management, design for environment, product stewardship, green purchasing, reverse logistics, recycling, reuse, and remanufacturing. These approaches have often been considered independently. Industrial Ecology and Industrial Symbiosis offer systematic thinking for companies to integrate key elements of these approaches into their supply chain environmental sustainability development. This study aims to develop a conceptual framework to embrace the integration and identify opportunities for companies to work collaboratively. The initial framework was proposed based on the review of the literature associated with environmentally sustainability supply chain management, Industrial Ecology, and Industrial Symbiosis. It is improved by corroborating the case study company's experience, a large UK distributor. Different hierarchies in waste management have also been considered when developing the framework. The paper emphasises the importance of prevention and reduction methods. The developed framework illustrates the areas and opportunities for supply chain parties to work collaboratively towards environmentally friendly activities. The developed framework contributes to the environmentally sustainable supply chain management literature and encourages companies to apply Industrial Ecology and Industrial Symbiosis to develop their environmentally sustainable supply chains. KeywordsEnvironmentally sustainable supply chain, Industrial Ecology, Industrial Symbiosis, Conceptual framework Highlights 1. This paper focuses on supply chain environmental sustainability development. 2. Industrial ecology (IE) and Industrial Symbiosis (IS) provide new ways of thinking. 3. A framework is developed to highlight possible applications of IE and IS. 4. Companies need to work collaboratively towards a closed-loop material exchange. 5. The developed framework emphasises the importance of prevention and reduction. 2 IntroductionSupply chain management (SCM) has evolved into design, management and optimisation of activities of external and internal parties and their relationships along a supply chain (Spekman et al., 1998). It aims to facilitate better information and material flows through developing integration and collaboration among supply chain parties to form better relationships (Ashby et al., 2012;Handfield and Nichols, 1999). SCM proposes a development opportunity for different parties along a supply chain to work towards a higher level of collaboration through breaking organisational boundaries (Frankel et al., 2008). Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) considers social, environmental and economic aspects of sustai...

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