Sustainable Supply Chain Insights
23rd September 2024
Woodland’s second annual Sustainability Report delivers insights and guidance on how to proactively improve your supply chain and implement ESG developments, consequently assisting to keep your workforce motivated, engaged, and committed to reaching ambitious targets. The importance of integrating ESG goals and initiatives remains vital in ensuring a sustainable economic future.
Accurately measuring and reporting on carbon emissions is crucial to navigate government and industry regulations and meet sustainability goals and stakeholder expectations. Thorough carbon calculations provide complete visibility of your business’ carbon footprint while customizable shipment carbon reports facilitate tracking emissions from door-to-door. Calculations can include transport distances, freight weight, greenhouse gas emissions, and air pollutants, and when both Tank-to-Wheel and Well-To-Wheel reporting is provided, globally consistent calculations can be formed.
Tank-To-Wheel refers to the actual transport, fuel consumption, fuel quality, and processing as well as emissions classification by country worldwide. Well-To-Wheel calculations encompass the emissions generated during production and transportation of the fuel, up to the point it enters a vehicle for use. An advanced, accredited carbon calculator can determine railway and airport transfer points and automatically detect stopovers based on available flight numbers. Woodland Group’s sustainable supply chain management support is based on the use of its carbon calculation tools, which align with ISO 14083 and GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting Standards.
Creating legitimately feasible routing options is a key step in delivering sustainable supply chains, and in achieving net zero by 2050. The most environmentally sustainable route may not always be feasible to implement because of the associated increase in cost or length of time the shipment takes, further aggravated by external factors such as political or environmental changes impacting routing and availability. To implement truly sustainable solutions, hypothetical carbon calculations are the most effective way to not only provide feasible routing options but also emission differences, factoring in lead time and cost.
Equally, the growth of alternative transport options presents significant opportunities to reduce the carbon footprint of the logistics industry. Choosing rail and short sea transport can further reduce your business’ carbon footprint as both inherently offer lower carbon emissions in comparison to road freight. Shifting freight volumes to these modes unlocks a substantial reduction in the logistics sector’s environmental impact while maintaining efficient movement of goods.
Implementing sustainable Supply Chain solutions are integral to meeting feasible net zero targets. These can include the expansion of rail and short freight as opposed to road, use of LSTs (Longer-Semi Trailers), and HVO (Hydro-Treated Vegetable Oil) as an alternative fuel to mineral diesel. Woodland Group’s recent GLEC membership enables the global company to proactively contribute to shaping sustainable logistics practices. The supply chain sector is grappling with rising fossil fuel costs, driven by supply chain disruptions and impact of carbon pricing. By adopting a circular economy model, the industry can move towards a resource-efficient and sustainable future. Woodland Group takes a proactive approach towards mitigating risks of disruption to shipping routes, creating a more sustainable sea freight model and supply chain infrastructure, which otherwise could be impacted by extreme weather and intensified climate change for example.
Packaging optimization and responsible waste management can help create a more circular economy, a model centered on resource reuse, repair, and recycling. By moving away from ‘take-make-dispose’ and keeping resources in circulation whilst minimizing waste and pollution, a path for environmental and economic prosperity can be created. Whilst actioning environmentally sustainable practices remains the focal mission, supporting communities and creating a workplace where employees feel valued, included, and empowered is equally fundamental in building a sustainable business.
Creating diverse candidate pools through a variety of external job posting sites and recruiting channels is a proactive practice to reach underrepresented groups and expand talent pipelines. Good practice in maintaining Diversity, Equity and Inclusion principles in the recruiting process is achieved through training managers guiding HR teams to recognise and mitigate unconscious bias throughout candidate screening and interview processes. Collecting and analyzing demographic data from across your workforce can also help in shaping DEI initiatives and assist in monitoring changes over time. Company-wide staff satisfaction surveys will assist in implementing improvements, monitoring trends, and gauging the impact of newly introduced benefits.
To achieve diversity and inclusivity within your workforce, relevant policies can support an all-inclusive working environment in which all employees feel valued and free from discrimination. Through feedback received from keeping an open dialogue with employees and data collected from staff surveys, you can implement staff-led positive change, and make everyone feel included and empowered to be able to feed into initiatives affecting all aspects of their life. Fostering transparency is key in establishing your workforce’s credibility and customer trust. Open communication and regular reporting on financial performance, sustainability metrics, and operational decisions will allow employees to feel empowered and respected.
Engaging with online platforms to improve and distribute ethical practices in global supply chains is a proactive way to facilitate compliance whilst minimizing business disruption as well as staying up to date with ESG regulations. Woodland Group is committed to transparency in business facilitated through effective online platforms, a practice that has been supported by suppliers, such as Sedex. As an organization working to improve ethical practices in supply chains, Sedex offers an online platform where businesses can share information about labour rights, safety, environmental impacts and ethical sourcing. Engaging with this organization means you can assess suppliers’ practices and further promote transparency throughout the supply chain as well as contributing to a sustainable future in business.
In the workplace, upholding the highest ethical standards means to encourage all employees to speak up and report any concerns that they may have regarding suspected wrongdoing or potential risks. Through an open dialogue and a Whistleblower Policy, a trustworthy channel for employees can be provided to voice concerns without the fear of retaliation. Woodland Group is constantly evolving ideas to make reporting more accessible and easy for employees, for example through online QR codes. Threading ESG aspects into your business and your business culture will encourage a proactive attitude towards a more circular economy and support the implementation of sustainable practices.
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