Making supply chain green

Filed in archive Best practice on September 28, 2005

Many businesses strive to be environmentally responsible by reducing waste and using less toxic alternatives to traditionally used chemicals. Some of them even go further and do this through their supply chain and among these companies, SC Johnson is really a best practice.

The company, still run by the same American family that founded it in 1886, buys huge quantities of chemical ingredients and scores their environmental impact according to its Greenlist� classification system.

The Greenlist� system establishes between four and seven criteria for each raw material category. Currently, 15 chemical categories have been rated, including surfactants, solvents, insecticides and packaging, and criteria for new categories are added to the list each year. For example, the Greenlist� criteria for surfactants, a key ingredient in many soaps and detergents, include aquatic toxicity, biodegradability, EU environmental classification and acute human toxicity. Based on the results in each of the four criteria, the ingredient receives a score of 3 (best), 2 (better), 1 (acceptable), or 0 (restricted use materials, or RUMs, an SC Johnson-specific classification). A material rated 0 needs direct approval from top management before it can be used.

Actually, this case was really interesting for me and I will try to write about Greenlist� more in the future.