Going Green Through Green Supply Chain Initiatives Towards Environmental Sustainability

In recent years the natural environment becomes a major global issue. Due to increasing human and industrial impacts on the environment, environmental issues become more intense and widespread. In this regard, businesses need to place equal footing both on the environment and on their business objectives. This paper is an attempt to clarify the path towards that end and highlight steps to be taken by business organizations through green supply chain to make sustainable development a reality. Specifically the paper is interested to investigate the adoption of green supply chain initiatives. Three green supply chain initiatives e.g. green purchasing, eco-design, and reverse logistics were studied. The survey data was obtained from ISO 14001 certified manufacturing firms in Malaysia. The survey was conducted using structured mail questionnaire directed to the environmental management representative (EMR) in each firm. The results showed that ecodesign is the most adopted green supply chain initiative followed by green purchasing, while reverse logistics showed the lowest level of adoption. The result of the t-test revealed that there are no significant differences in green supply chain initiatives between firm ages and type of product. However, firms with large supplier base (more than 10 suppliers) are found to be significantly higher in green purchasing and eco-design than firms with lower supplier base. The result of the t-test disclosed also that firms that participate in green interested associations have significantly higher level of adoptions of green supply chain initiatives than firms that do not participate. Green supply chain initiatives can play significant role in achieving the "triple bottom line" of social, environmental, and economic benefits and, therefore, contributing to sustainable development of the society.