Expect More Regeneration for the Future of the Supply Network

It’s traditional to start any article on sustainability with doom and gloom warnings of the scale and urgency of the challenge. I’d like to buck that trend.

Not that there aren’t plenty of reasons for taking sustainability more seriously (and urgently). But I see more hope than gloom.

Dr. Jonathan Foley, a climate scientist and pretty cool guy, conducted a poll of 1,000 of his followers on Twitter (now X) in 2022 asking what had happened to U.S. greenhouse gas emissions over the last 15 years – had they gone up by more than 20%, up by 10%, stayed the same or fallen by 20%? Two-thirds picked an increase, while only 19% correctly answered that they had fallen. And U.S. emissions are projected to have fallen by 3% over 2023, despite an increase in economic growth of 2.5%.

This isn’t an argument for complacency. It does, however, show that things can and are changing in the right direction, if not fast enough. Those at the forefront of sustainability are shifting from rooting out environmental or social sins to cultivating positive ways of living, working and playing that create the world and relationships we want. Change is possible. Since the dawn of time – and as society has continued to innovate and advance – we have messed up this amazing blue-green ball unintentionally. Imagine the power we, citizens of the world, have to drive positive change with fierce intention.?

I’ve seen a lot of that change first-hand, having worked in global sustainability for over 25 years, been national chairman of the U.S. Green Building Council, advised more than 40 Fortune 1000 corporations and served the President’s Council on Sustainable Development under President Clinton.

So why am I now working at a supply chain solutions company best known for its blue pallets?

First, my view of sustainability has shifted in similar ways from reducing my footprint to help “save the planet” (driving one of the first hybrid cars, offsetting millions of air miles and greening my house), to defining my professional purpose to “creating the conditions for thriving lives for all.” See the big mindset shift from doing less harm to purposefully creating the positive world we want for ourselves, our neighbors and our families?

That’s the big shift emerging in the leading edge of sustainability whether you call it “Regeneration” (like CHEP, Walmart and others), “Net Positive,” or “Beyond Zero.” In short, it means creating more environmental, social and financial value than it takes to run our lives or our businesses.?

So, where could I have the biggest positive impact, indirectly touching more people, connecting them with life’s essentials, AND thousands of companies innovating to do the same? Yep, supply networks. It’s a dream for a recovering oil industry engineer and sustainability geek.

For all the effort that companies put into headline-grabbing initiatives to get materials from more sustainable sources, etc., it’s the end-to-end supply network that is the source of 60% of all global emissions. In fact, the majority of a retailer’s sustainability footprint comes from its supply chain – more than 95% of its footprint, according to Scot Case, Vice President Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability at the National Retail Federation.

What’s the biggest barrier in this leap to regeneration? It’s the one-way, take-make-toss mindset that historically has dominated nearly all the products and packaging racing through supply networks every day.

In my decades of exploring restorative or regenerative systems (almost always in nature) a common principle is that they are all circular by nature. Circular seasons, life stages, fashions (just kidding), and flows of resources.

The final differentiator that attracted me to CHEP? Its decades of experience optimizing and scaling its circular business model in multiple regions around the world, and the launching of its bold regenerative ambition. It’s consistently rated one of the most sustainable companies on earth.

The events of the last couple of years have really driven home why we need to think sustainably – AND circularly. In the early months of the pandemic, we saw the global supply network shift. Manufacturers and retailers immediately needed to pivot their production to accommodate new ways of living. Regenerative systems, circular by nature, offer manufacturers more resilient options to keep the supply chain moving without having to invest in net new resources.?

We’re already seeing major companies moving in this direction. Coca-Cola has its circular “World Without Waste” program, which commits to the collection and recycling of every bottle or can it sells by 2030. At Sustainable Brands ‘23 I saw impressive circular reverse logistics take-back programs from Patagonia, Sweaty Betty, Trove and Uniqlo. And innerwear company Subset saw its recycling program transform into a powerful customer acquisition program.

I have to confess that progress isn’t always helped by the word “regeneration” itself, as it’s often confined to agriculture or natural creatures, or even tech advancements like regenerative AI.

But issues with regeneration are really just mindset issues. If you start from where you are, and inch toward a more sustainable path, you will make only incremental progress. A boxer doesn’t punch to hit his opponent or golfer to hit the golf ball – they hit through them.

Moving toward regenerative supply networks is the surest way to integrate sustainable development into competitive business strategy. So we can create value for everyone – in our supply networks and outside them – by putting back more than we take out.

Please contact me at [email protected] if you’d like to know more about implementing circularity and regeneration in your supply chain, or to let me know what you’re already doing. Because the more we share, the more everyone benefits.

How can you help on this movement toward regeneration?