Greening the Supply Chain
'Greening the supply chain' is a way of reducing the effects
of business activities on the environment and bringing benefits
to both customers and suppliers. The benefits include better communication,
more efficient distribution of goods, quicker market response
and reduced costs.
The EPA has recognised that businesses that operate eco-efficiently
strive to continually improve their resource use. In doing so,
employee, client and supplier relationships can be improved and
the benefits of supply chain improvements can be promoted.
 Industry
Association Project—South Australian Wine Industry
Sustainability Procurement Toolkit
The South Australian Wine Industry Association, with support
from the EPA has developed a new internet-based toolkit to assist
members of the wine industry implement greener management practices.
The ‘Sustainable Purchasing Toolkit’ was developed
as part of a 12-month project undertaken by the SA Wine Industry
Association, with funding from the Greening the Supply Chain (GSC)
Program. The Association worked closely with the Wine Industry
Suppliers of Australia (WISA) to develop the toolkit.
The toolkit focuses on managing the business risk associated
with the supply chain by providing fact sheets, training activities,
templates and case studies that will help wineries and vineyard
operator’s work with suppliers in a more sustainable way.
The main aim of the toolkit is to provide an introduction on
how the wine industry can implement better, smarter and more efficient
supply chain management and in turn reap economic and environmental
benefits. This toolkit is the first step towards promoting wider
industry adoption of sustainable purchasing.
To access the toolkit visit www.winesa.asn.au/content/63.
 The
Motor Trade Association of SA Inc
The Motor Trade Association SA is working with the EPA to improve
current environmental practices and adopt best practice procedures
within the automotive industry in SA over the next 12 months.
The industry currently has a range of processes and initiatives
to improve water quality, discharge to sewer and waste storage
but the industry could benefit from more efficient environmental
procedures and a systematic approach to environmental improvement.
The project is targetting industry members in small and medium
businesses, where resources and time are limited.
The project will involve a comprehensive and integrated approach
to undertaking 45 site audits in rural, regional and metropolitan
areas tailored to the medium to high-risk areas of industry (service
stations, dismantling yards, collision/auto repair). An environmental
training program will be tailored to each sector with self-help
practical measures to assist small business to adopt systems.
An EMS (560KB
PDF) and Environment
Plan (13KB PDF) developed, as part of
Phase 2 of the project will be used as resources for the industry.
The training and site visits will assist with the development
of a report on common problems associated with each sector. The
information will be used to assist with the development of a range
of products and services designed to improve environmental practises
and standardise procedures.
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| Photo Copyright:
Yalumba Wine Company |
Greener Business Alliance project
A chief aim of this project was to improve the environmental
performance of businesses along a supply chain through a series
of cooperative agreements between the EPA, a medium to large sized
business that acts as a mentor, and a select number of its suppliers—companies
supplying goods and/or services.
The project aimed to influence suppliers because they are typically
smaller enterprises, environmentally unlicensed and potentially
less eco-efficient. While the environmental impact of each individual
supplier may be small, the accumulated effects across the supply
chain can be significant.
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| Photo Copyright:
Yalumba Wine Company |
Eco-efficiency agreements
The EPA selected the Yalumba Wine Company to be the mentor
for its first Greener Business Alliance Project.
Ten suppliers to Yalumba entered into a three-way eco-efficiency
agreement with Yalumba and the EPA. The agreements contained a
commitment to develop an action plan with set negotiated environmental
goals for the suppliers and establish a commitment on the part
of suppliers to allow the eco-efficiency achievements to be promoted.
For your convenience, the following publications are available
for downloading. To view these, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader,
freely available from Adobe. (Click on the graphic on the right).
Greener Business Alliance Project
Report (841KB PDF)
Greener Business Alliance Project—Yalumba's
Role (175KB PDF)
Greener Business Alliance Project case studies
You can read the text version by clicking on the company name
(html), or you can download the pdf file from the link provided.
Applications for funding
Due to reasons beyond our control, funding for Green Alliance
projects are not currently available.
Business SA partnership
 The
Business and the Environment handbook is the product of
an EPA-Business SA partnership.
Summary information and links to quick reference guides are provided
in eco-efficiency resources.
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This page was last modified 01-07-2008
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