Last year when preparing for my presentation at the 2009 CHaINA summit, I was given access to preliminary data from a survey that the China Supply Chain council had sent out on green practices. The council, lead by MAx Henry, has always been (in relation to other industry groups) forward leaning on the issues and he was trying to get a feel for what his members were seeing, experiencing, and wanting to learn more about.
At the time, what I found most interesting is that there were some really clear divisions that one could pick right out, and would have expected. that while (as supply chain managers) the focus was at the end of the day economic, there was a huge gap in knowledge on (1) what the environmental issues they “faced” were or (2) what to do.
It was a survey that showed some firms were very pragmatic about their actions in focusing on packaging (65% already/ 11% within the year), packaging materials (50% already/ 22% within the year), and moving to recyclable packaging containers (51% already/ 29% within the year), while others were looking strategically by talking with their carriers (transportation providers) about their own green initiatives (23% already/ 13% within the year) and were shifting to more efficient modes of transport (29% already/ 13% within the year).
Initiatives that really exposed things like switching to aerodynamic trucks (6% this year/ 6% within the year) as areas that needed to be focused on.
Motivations, both moral and economic, were across the board , but what interested me more was what firms saw as the barriers (emphasis mine): cost prohibitive (38% – not surprising), Too complicated/ don’t have the expertise (38% – SHOCKING), Not a priority (30% – NOT YET), and there are no financial incentives to support (34% – MARKET CAN CHANGE THAT FAST)
It is a report that I encourage you to take the time to download and read. Download here