Author(s)

H. Winkler & B. Kaluza

Abstract

In order to realise sustainable development, sufficient waste management is rather important. It is inappropriate for the future only to reduce waste and save energy. Sustainable economic growth is necessary for prosperity but this also in turn causes waste. Based on the literature and formal empirical research, we can state that a movement towards sustainability is only possible if we manage to develop concepts that integrate economic and ecological goals. These challenges can be realised best with the application of certain Sustainable Supply Chain Networks and supply chain management methods. The set up of Sustainable Supply Chain Networks strongly supports the realisation of a circular economy by way of closing process chains between enterprises within an industry and by implementing joint environmental protection measures. This significantly enables the avoidance and reduction of waste and saves costs as well as improves the competitiveness of the members. Keywords: waste management, waste avoidance, waste reduction, sustainability, Supply Chain, Sustainable Supply Chain Network. 1 Introduction Reducing and/or avoiding waste was already an important issue since the early 1970s. Initially, waste was reduced by end-of-pipe-technologies, followed by process- and product-integrated environmental technology developments in the 1980s [1]. These concepts were isolated applications that focussed on a single enterprise. Today, waste management has to be considered in the context of sustainable development. Sustainable development claims the simultaneous improvement of

Keywords

waste management, waste avoidance, waste reduction, sustainability, Supply Chain, Sustainable Supply Chain Network.