Green Deal | Manage supply chains proactively
Anyone who places products on the market in the EU not only has to meet the compliance requirements for the products, but also has a duty of care for the manufacturing conditions. This applies to the impact on the environment and climate, but also to the working conditions in the factories. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD ) - a building block in the EU's Green Deal - companies will in future be required to identify negative impacts on human rights and the environment in their supply chains and, if necessary, prevent or reduce them. Failure to comply could result in sanctions and loss of reputation.
Compliance requirements and duties of care are currently difficult to fulfill
Those responsible in the company are therefore faced with major challenges: It is already demanding to record the environmental impact of one's own company and to optimize the processes. In the future, however, they will have to consider all stages in the manufacturing process, from raw material extraction to the end product and its route to the place of use. This always raises the question: How do I get the information that is important? Can I rely on the data transmitted? And can I trust that my suppliers will continuously update the data?
Tackling challenges together: forging new alliances
Mutual trust can be created through new ways: It is important to define responsibilities and build appropriate capacity among suppliers. Governance mechanisms should be created to support this, such as industry standards with reporting formats and control mechanisms. These ensure that the information transmitted is trusted. Since a single company cannot create these mechanisms, additional partners and new forms of collaboration are needed.
itp:ne can support you in successfully tackling operational and inter-company change management. The Transment approach has proven its worth in identifying new areas of opportunity and designing systemic solutions.
Key points for an industry-wide governance framework agreed and feasibility study carried out with the leather industry
Insight
Only if companies have knowledge of the chemicals contained in their products can they proactively meet the dynamically evolving requirements of material compliance. In the project “More sustainable chemistry along the leather supply chain”, the team succeeded in developing an industry-wide governance framework for the leather industry as part of a sub-project.
In addition, companies in the leather industry tested an IT tool into which the suppliers of the components entered information about the materials they contained - down to the individual substances.
Strategy meeting: The bicycle industry has forged new alliances
Insight
A team from itp:ne organized a strategy meeting with those responsible for the bicycle industry during the Eurobike trade fair 2022: The first steps for an alliance that jointly calls for pollutant-free products have been agreed.
Proactive Alliance: Foundations for a global cross-sector standard
Insight
Actors from the itp:ne circle have on the sidelines of the Chemical Watch Global Business Summit in April 2018 in Amsterdam brought together a group of proactive actors: The Proactive alliance brings together global players from the automotive, aerospace, chemical, electrical and electronics sectors, Furniture, home textiles, mechanical engineering, medical devices, metal processing and metal articles, textiles and sporting goods. In a two-year process, the group developed recommendations for the development of a global, cross-industry standard for communicating information about chemicals in products along supply chains.