The key to sustainability

Producing sustainably sounds good. But what are the key factors for a truly sustainable production in the German consumer goods industry? Together with GS1 Germany, association for global standards in supply chains, the CSCP identified four fields of action and one major instrument.

 

Transparency is the key towards a sustainable production along the supply-chain in the consumer goods industry. This is the central finding of the survey from CSCP and GS1 Germany. This might seem obvious at first sight. But it is a crucial instrument which influences all fields of action the respondents of the survey pointed out as important:

• Communication
• Sustainable supply-chain-management
• Support of sustainable consumption
• Collaborative sustainability strategies

 

Only with utmost transparency along the supply-chain companies can manage to communicate and interact with both customers and business partners. Moreover the report provides an action plan along with the highlighted fields of action. In the first step a holistic point of view is needed whereas the Hot Spots Tool – developed by the CSCP – helps in the second step to concentrate on essential sustainability drivers for an effective, viable improvement.

In this survey CSCP and GS1 Germany questioned experts from trading and industry companies, politics, science, research, consumer organizations and the public.

The GS1 Germany GmbH is a non-profit association dedicated to the development and implementation of global standards to improve the efficiency and visibility of supply and demand chains. It is well-known for the allocation of the barcode numbers of the correspondent GS1 System.