Sustainable Plastics - January/February 2022 - 11

sustainable supply chain management
A successful approach for
improving the effectiveness
of the plastics processing industry
could be that of supply
chain management in a circular
economy context - based on
the 'closed loop' concept, which
is ideal for a material that has
a large (endless) recycling potential
and an endless variety of
uses.
The Portuguese plastics
industry and SSCM
A research study was therefore
carried out to explore how
this industrial sector comes to
grips with SSCM. And as sprocurement
is a crucial part of the
supply chain, the researchers
also sought to understand how
this sector reacts to Environmentally
Responsible Procurement
Management (ERPM), answering
the following research
questions:
What is the impact of Sustainable
Supply Chain Management
on companies' performance?
What
is the impact of Environmentally
Responsible
Procurement Management on
companies' performance?
The results show that SSCM
practices have a positive impact
on the environmental and economic
performance of companies,
unlike ERPM practices.
The positive influence of
SSCM practices on the environmental
and economic performance
of the companies
indicates that the Portuguese
plastics industry has implemented
some sustainable management
measures in its supply
chain and has already seen the
effort of these measures reflected
in its economic and environmental
performance.
When the impact of SSCM
practices on the export performance
of the companies in the
sector was evaluated, a positive
relationship was found between
the two variables.
Previous studies have pointed
to the importance of environmentally
responsible procurement
management, as this
positively influences company
performance at various levels.
This study found no influence
of ERPM practices on the environmental,
economic, innovation
and export performance
of companies in the plastics
sector. This could be because
ERPM practices require technical
knowledge and therefore
training. The sample of companies
surveyed for the study
was mostly made up of SMEs,
who, lacking the resources to
invest in training, would find it
challenging to implement these
practices. On the other hand, as
it is a long-term investment and
it takes time for the results to be
reflected in the performance,
the absence of evidence of this
positive relationship might be
due to the fact that the analysed
companies were still in a
very early stage of the change
process. Although SSCM practices
exist and are important
measures, ERPM is something
in which companies in the plastics
industrial sector will need to
invest in in order to be environmentally
responsible if they are
to survive in the long term.
The results of this study further
revealed that there is no
relevant relationship between
SSCM practices and environmental
performance. It was
further assumed that the relationship
between ERPM and environmental
performance was
influenced by ecocentricity -
something which was not borne
out by the sample studied.
Ecocentricity refers to the
willingness of a company to
collaborate with and learn
from external stakeholders to
achieve sustainability goals. It
is a laborious process, given the
need for increased skills, flexible
organisational culture and
top management involvement.
The fact that the ecocentricity
was found not to impact the relationship
between ERPM and
environmental performance
might also be related to the
costs inherent to this process,
or to the adherence to a strategy
focused on costs and operational
processes rather than
on a proactive strategy that has
ecocentricity and environmentally
responsible sustainability
as a focus.
Against expectation, the results
also showed no positive
influence of traceability on the
relationship between SSCM
practices and environmental
performance. The reason may
be the fact that the Portuguese
plastics industry has hitherto
devoted scant attention to the
implementation of sustainable
practices, which denotes a strategic
conflict between the short
and the long term.
Next to ecocentricity and
traceability, the environmental
culture of the companies was
also analysed as a variable influencing
the relationship between
SSCM practices and environmental
performance and the
relationship between ERPM and
environmental performance.
Neither of the relationships
revealed a relevant impact of
environmental culture as a
moderator. The same was true
for environmental positioning.
These findings reflect a lack of
proactivity in the area of sustainability
and the importance
of top management support
in managing corporate culture
and instilling the need for a new
paradigm in terms of environmental
culture.
Competitive pressure was
studied as a moderating variable
of the relationship between
SSCM practices and
environmental performance
and of the relationship between
ERPM and environmental performance.
In the plastics industrial
sector, this impact was not
found. This may be associated
with the events at the time of
the research (in the middle of
the COVID-19 pandemic, first
half of 2020). As only a few
companies in the sector are
currently acting on sustainability,
there is as yet no competitive
pressure to take environmentally
responsible measures.
Regarding environmental
uncertainty as a variable influencing
the relationship between
SSCM practices and environmental
performance, the results
showed no relevant moderating
effect on the relationship between
the variables. The absence
of a positive relationship
between these variables may
relate to the age of the companies
in this industrial sector. Given
the time they have been operating
in the market, they may
be focused on continuing their
modus operandi, feeling little
need to adapt or to open horizons
in relation to sustainability.
Another plausible explanation
could be the lack of resources to
invest in a more environmentally
responsible proactive strategy
to achieve better environmental
performance.
Finally, no relevant impact
could be found in the relationship
between SSCM practices
and environmental performance,
nor in the relationship
between ERPM and environmental
performance. Social
responsibility of procurement
is intrinsically linked to environmental
positioning and
environmental culture. Without
a clear environmental sustainability
strategy, the internal
environmental culture of these
companies is not yet sufficiently
oriented toward social and environmental
responsibility.
Change is coming,
but slowly
Recovered and
ready for recycling
Overall, the study showed that
although there is some activity
within the Portuguese plastics
industry, many sustainability
practices and solutions are
still not being implemented or
valued properly. The shift toward
sustainable paradigms
continued on page 12
January/February 2022
11
Sustainable Plastics - January/February 2022

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