MOTIVATIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING IN GREEN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

David S. Ang
Auburn University at Montgomery

Johnny C. Ho
J. Michael Noblitt
Joshua Checa
Steven O’Neill Santiago
Columbus State University

ABSTRACT

Companies pursue resource conservation initiatives for several reasons, including
government mandate, customer mandate, cost improvement, market penetration, and social
responsibility. The objective of reducing waste or increasing recyclable content can involve
detailed investigations of all supply chain modes to fully understand what resources are consumed
at each packaging point, and evaluations of a series of alternatives each with different costs,
logistical considerations, sourcing issues, and inherent environmental impacts. Initiatives are then
undertaken based on a particular assessment of the expected costs and benefits of each program,
while the actual costs and benefits may be quite different post-implementation. The degree of
variation between expectation and outcome is a subject for further understanding.
This study focuses on the particular subset of GSCM known as green packaging.
Packaging may be viewed from either the producer’s standpoint or the consumer’s standpoint.
This study also reviews several initiatives that measure reductions in resource consumption
related to packaging, primarily focusing on the manufacturing sector.
Keywords: Sustainability, packaging, recycling, green supply chain management