Supply Chain Resilience and Sustainability in Today’s World

Shifting from Linear to Circular Models

In recent years, an urge has emerged for businesses dealing in goods to shift from purely linear supply chains to more circular ones. More and more businesses are planning for a certain level of circularity in their supply chains. This means reusing and recycling parts and materials in the manufacturing process that previously were disposed of as waste. This type of circularity helps in reducing cost and waste. Looking further, at the packaging used in supply chains, it has become evident that similar benefits of a circular mindset are easily attainable.

Despite cost pressures and a detrimental impact on the environment, single-use packaging is still used widely today. Single-use packaging is not only wasteful because it cannot be reused, but it is also increasingly prone to damage during transport. After the first use, or trade lane, the single-use packaging usually goes one of two ways; it is left idle to take up valuable storage space, or it is discarded. This in turn creates a packaging need to be produced in large numbers annually to meet the ever-growing global demand of businesses today. The repercussions are not only felt by our environment, but also by businesses, whose logistics costs continue to rise and any attempts to decarbonize remain futile.

Single-use packaging is no longer a viable option for businesses that want to thrive and survive in today's world, where sustainability is a key consideration, for consumers and governments alike. The key to moving logistics towards circular models is to use reusable, robust, and resilient packaging.