The current flap over climate change science aside, sustainability is on the march. A new research consortium established by the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics (CTL) will formally launch on March 25 to address the complex issues of designing supply chains to meet sustainability goals.
MIT CTL has teamed up with MIT’s Material Systems Lab and Chiquita Brands to create the project, called Global Leap, or Leaders in Environmental Assessment and Performance. The consortium of global companies and experts in supply chain and the environment will address sustainability issues in key areas, such as energy, transportation, packaging/waste materials, natural resources, greenhouse gases, and water, according to MIT’s announcement this week.
“We aim to understand how supply chains are going to change as they incorporate new perspectives on design and performance, specifically moving from traditional metrics of cost and service, into impact on the environment,” said Edgar Blanco, research director of MIT CTL, in a statement. “Those measures are not usually included in the supply chain analysis, but in the future we see a need for their inclusion, and the Global Leap initiative is trying to give companies the right tools to do so successfully.”
The consortium will give member companies the tools and information they need to measure their total environmental footprint, evaluate strategic environmental and operational trade-offs, and shape a sustainability action plan, according to MIT’s announcement.