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Supply chains are crucial for the efficient and economical operation of businesses. However, with globalization, supply chains have become more complex and lengthy, and more susceptible to various risks, requiring greater efforts to ensure that all aspects comply with social, environmental, and ethical principles.
Especially since the pandemic, consumers have not only increased their demand for sustainable products and packaging, but they have also demanded faster delivery times. These demands mean that businesses must have comprehensive visibility throughout their supply chains, including small suppliers in the most remote areas.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals provide several principles that companies operate according to in order to achieve sustainable supply chains:
Workforce: Companies should strive to eliminate forced labor, child labor, and discriminatory employment practices. By ensuring employees are treated fairly, they can build a sustainable and loyal workforce.
Environment: The company shall fulfill its environmental responsibility by using environmentally friendly technologies and reducing its negative impact on the environment. This includes reducing toxic waste, water pollution, deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as protecting natural resources.
Anti-corruption: Companies must strive to eradicate all forms of corruption, including extortion and bribery. This is achieved by promoting transparency and ethical business practices to build a reputation for integrity and trustworthiness.
Ensuring that supply chains comply with social, environmental, and ethical principles is key to prioritizing sustainability.
How does Nurdo Clean build a sustainable supply chain?
Describing how to develop sustainable supply chains and what they should look like in theory is easy, but in practice, there are many practical challenges to overcome. Here are some real-world examples illustrating how we develop sustainable supply chains and key insights into the extensive work involved.
Framework for Supplier and Raw Material Inspection
We are creating a framework for sustainable sourcing policies that will be implemented in all procurement activities. For example, ensuring that cardboard boxes use sustainable wood and using recycled plastics to replace raw plastics wherever possible.
Our internal team has established a framework for assessing supplier sustainability, categorizing their sustainability levels into three tiers based on their responses: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. The company works with suppliers to develop action plans to improve their sustainability and only partners with suppliers meeting Gold or Silver standards.
Gold: Suppliers possess globally recognized certifications, set targets, and report their performance annually.
Silver: Suppliers have defined and reported targets, their products have received environmental approval, and they are regularly audited.
Bronze: Suppliers keep track of their utility bills, have corporate environmental policies, comply with local environmental requirements, and have set improvement targets.
Rudi Stegen, Global Logistics Director at Nurdo Clean, described the process: “When we start working with a new supplier, when they start manufacturing products for us, or when we buy materials or products from them, we audit their sustainability credentials.”
These checks can ensure, for example, that for paper towels, companies don't need to trace back to the forest to check the sustainability of forest management and paper production, including ethical and environmental issues. It will demonstrate whether suppliers are checking their supply chains, and whether each company involved is checking/auditing its own suppliers.
Reducing our carbon footprint in packaging and shipping
We are reviewing the packaging materials used for products throughout our supply chain, with the goal of minimizing the use of plastic packaging. For example, if a hand sanitizer dispenser is placed in a bag inside a box, we assess whether the bag can be eliminated entirely or replaced with a recycled plastic bag. This process ensures that product quality and protection are maintained, and if product quality or safety is not compromised, any excess bags are assessed and removed.
Inspect cardboard packaging to see if box dimensions can be optimized to maximize the use of available space on pallets, trucks, or containers. Sometimes products can be loosely packed in containers to increase shipment volume and eliminate individual packaging. These changes can reduce the amount of packaging actually used per product en route to the end user, allowing more product to be shipped in a container of the same volume. For the same product, volume can be reduced by 20-25% through different stacking methods, directly impacting carbon footprint.
Another area of focus is virgin plastics in alternative products. In the field of pest control, the Lumnia fly killer lamp already uses recycled plastics.
Similar approaches are being taken in hygiene and cleaning products, such as hand sanitizer dispensers, and crucially, product quality is being maintained. Other areas we are also exploring include adopting a circular economy and reducing transportation emissions.
“In the logistics area I’m in charge of, we have carbon emissions reports for every shipment that leaves the warehouse. We know exactly how much our transportation company is emitting, and we do similar assessments for shipments from our suppliers.”
Addressing the Challenges of Sustainable Supply Chains
Becoming more sustainable is not always a simple process of replacing raw materials with recycled materials. A product may need to go through a full development cycle, including production trials, laboratory testing, and regulatory approvals, before it can be redesigned. For example, if plastic in a product is replaced with cardboard, it will require a new manufacturing process and may require a new product registration.
We have the capability to address legal and engineering challenges to maintain product quality while increasing sustainability and adopting circularity. Our newly established Health and Wellness R&D Center is driving our leadership in sustainable innovation and product development.
Achievements in packaging include all Signature hand sanitizer dispensers using 100% recycled plastic bags, and the standard Luna Dryer's outer packaging has been switched from plastic to paper packaging made from recycled fibers. Since May 2020, we have reduced our plastic usage by more than 238 tons in packaging and products.
By systematically addressing these issues in all markets worldwide, Nurdogris is making significant progress.