July 2009

Ciltsa is looking for the most environmentally friendly transport company in South which will be honoured at the inaugural green supply chain awards in August this year. Further information can be obtained from the Ciltsa website: www.ciltsa.org.za. Take a look at the truck pictured here. This guy won’t even make the playoffs!.

Over recent years there has been a strong move towards companies “being green” and focusing on “environmental sustainability”. In an effort to recognise and reward those companies that show excellence in “going green,” the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport of South Africa, (CILTSA), in partnership with the Consumer Goods Council of SA (CGSA) and media partner Supply Chain Today is launching a Green Supply Chain Awards programme. 

The aim of the Green Supply Chain Awards is to recognise and reward companies that are making genuine efforts to minimise the environmental impact of their supply chain processes and actively seek ways to improve environmental performance through identifying goals to reduce their company’s impact on the environment, developing an action plan detailing how each of these goals will be achieved and reporting progress towards achieving these goals. 

These are the only awards in the supply chain arena devoted exclusively to greening the supply chain. 

Eligibility

Business enterprises, associations, private institutions, government bodies, parastatals and NGOs are all eligible to submit entries. Participants may submit as many individual entries as they wish. Entrants do not have to be members of CILTSA or the CGSA to participate. 

The inaugural awards, which will cover all aspects of the supply chain, will be presented to the winners at the Second Green Supply Chain Conference in August this year. 

Ciltsa spokesperson Catherine Larkin says the judges will be looking for case studies where companies have been able to demonstrate excellent performance in environmental supply chain planning and execution. 

This will include compliance with environmental regulations, minimising waste from the supply chain process and the overall adoption of “green” practices across the supply chain. 

Larkin says companies should demonstrate they have taken measures to improve their environmental performance, such as through applying environmental criteria to assess and choose suppliers, and/or actions they have taken to control emissions from transport requirements. 

“A lot of companies say the right thing and may in fact be “green” in one area and “un-green” in another, either unintentionally or even intentionally,” Larkin comments adding that, while it is wonderful to see a number of “green” initiatives taking place within the transport and logistics industries, all too often they become a PR exercise. “We have to look to see if these companies are in fact doing anything substantial,” she reiterates. “The awards look at meaningful contribution to reduce the carbon footprint, it does not have to cost a lot of money but it must be effective and meaningful. 

Awards will be presented for best project, best product and for being judged the industry leader in environmental transport. 

Further information can be obtained from the Ciltsa website: www.ciltsa.org.za