Discussion and conclusion
The main question that was driving this paper was to what extent green supply chain
practices were linked to the selection of environmental technologies. Stepping back
to look at the findings from the results section, it becomes apparent that the focal
plant’s allocation of resources to various types of environmental technology tended
to be driven more by supplier-related interactions than customer-related interactions.
In particular, increased joint environmental planning and cooperation were related
to more process- and product-based modifications within the focal plant (i.e. the
respondents’ plant). It is not clear why this increase in pollution prevention came
primarily at the expense of management systems, instead of at the expense of a
combination of pollution control and management systems. Possibly, this occurred
because some allocation toward pollution control had to be maintained to comply
with specific air and waste regulations. For instance, several printing plants have
built clean rooms (also known as total enclosure areas) to ensure a good recoup of
the VOC emissions from the pressroom. In one plant visited for this research, the
clean room was a special requirement from pharmaceutical customers. Also,
organizations developing an environmental strategy based on value-added pollution
prevention technologies would benefit from environmental collaboration with
suppliers rather than aiming for control and arm’s length environmental approach
in the supply network as commonly seen in several industries. Similarly, the results
suggest that only marginal (if any) impact of such collaborative activities with
suppliers will result in the selection of pollution prevention technologies by the
suppliers.