Key Concepts in Sustainable Supply Chains in 2025

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Key Concepts in Sustainable Supply Chains in 2025

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Before even arriving at ProMat 2025, there was an air of excitement around the amount of attention paid to sustainability sessions. Sustainability is a conversation industries around the world have been having for years now. But as we inch closer to 2050 and our goal to be carbon neutral, there is a renewed sense of urgency.

The interest from executives and operators goes beyond a desire to protect our earth. Sustainability is profitable, as well. One survey of consumers across 31 countries and territories reports that 85% of consumers say they have experienced disruptions related to climate change in their daily lives. As a result, they are focusing on sustainability-focused purchases.

An initiative that makes as much business sense as it does environmental sense should be progressing more consistently. Companies still find it difficult to make major updates to their supply chain to support more sustainable practices. A large part of the obstacle is not knowing how to prove the ROI of these efforts or even where to start.

This year, ProMat speakers offered a few concepts to remember when trying to make supply chains more sustainable. Here are the top concepts we heard throughout the four-day conference:

Sustainability requires partnership

One concern expressed by attendees is how they seem to be implementing changes and finding partners to help them be more sustainable, but there doesn’t seem to be much progress made on the overall goal. In other words, if the efforts aren’t resulting in change, should companies reprioritize efficiency and profitability rather than sustainability goals?

During a session titled “Journey to a Sustainable Warehouse,” one speaker mentioned that the remedy is not giving up, but rather working with partners who can close the loop on the services they provide. A recycling partner, for example, that doesn’t simply remove waste or scrap materials. Instead, find a partner that regularly updates their partners on what happens with the scrap, what resources were required to process them, and the overall ROI.

As profit margins get smaller for companies, holistic data transparency is the only way companies can make strategic decisions that will move the needle. That includes all partners.

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Transparency throughout the supply chain is critical

Any change to the supply chain is complex. Changes are made complicated when they are done with a singular focus. The silos between stages of the supply chain and the silos that exist between various supply chain partners all make the path to sustainability costly and arduous.

Most of the sustainability sessions this year talked about the need for partnership as companies make more thoughtful decisions. For example, making the switch from combustion engines to lithium helps reduce a company’s carbon footprint. It also requires a change in warehouse layout. Warehouses need dedicated charging stations that may require reconfiguring the warehouse or updating operating procedures. All relatively easy changes, but ones that could impact how many SKUs a warehouse can hold or labor hours.

Without transparency into these updates, a warehouse that is looking to make improvements could potentially cause disruptions throughout the supply chain. To make each sustainable update more seamless, companies can invest in end-to-end solutions that provide real-time updates throughout the supply chain. With access to the most accurate data at all times, teams can communicate potential risks and collaborate to make them less disruptive.

Connect sustainability efforts to business goals

When teams want to make bigger changes, like what supplier to use or how production will go, need buy-in from broader stakeholders. Stakeholders that often make decisions based on the cost and the ROI. While the goal of sustainability is a good one, it doesn’t always have a clear connection to savings or revenue.

But, as mentioned above, consumers are using their purchasing power to push companies to be more thoughtful about how their operations hurt the environment. Those are the kinds of conversations that will leave an impression on decision makers.

Companies should pull data on their target consumer to understand the initiatives they care about and start to get buy-in on those changes first. Prove that sustainable practices are good business. After building trust in not only how it can be done but why it should, then expand to other sustainable practices that have a lower ROI.

Remember progress not perfection

Most importantly, as heard in each sustainability session, the goal is always progress not perfection. The forces that impact climate change, and the technology we can use to mitigate them, evolve constantly. What’s possible tomorrow might not be available today. So perfection will be a constantly moving target. Progress is something that is measurable right now, and will push all of us in the right direction. As companies consider what they can do to make their supply chain more sustainable, remember that doing something will always be better than doing nothing.

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