Sustainability in a supply chain
Evaluate practical sustainability actions from sourcing through delivery and after-sale support, using costs and measurable effects.
Section 6.1.2 · Actions to improve sustainability
Exam scope and assessment notes
This original lesson maps Cambridge IGCSE Commerce 0715 for exams in 2028 and 2029. Examples, businesses, figures and practice questions are original StudyForA material, not Cambridge questions, mark schemes or endorsements. Practice supports the knowledge, application, data interpretation, analysis and evaluation skills in the syllabus; it is self-checked and does not produce an official Cambridge grade. Full timed papers, examination-centre entry advice and review by a qualified Commerce teacher remain outside this pathway.
Before you begin
- No prior Commerce study is assumed. Work from the facts in each scenario and show calculations before making a commercial judgement.
Work on paper. Try each question before revealing help, and explain why your method works.
Quick readiness check
Which action can extend a product's useful life after sale?
What you will learn
- Explain why supply chains pursue environmentally responsible processes for future generations.
- Assess sustainable materials, logistics, packaging reduction, eco-friendly products, recycling, waste reduction, fewer returns, resale, repair and water stewardship.
Look beyond one stage
Supply-chain sustainability considers environmental effects across sourcing, production, transport, use, returns and disposal. The aim is to meet needs while reducing harm and protecting resources for the future; no single action makes a whole chain sustainable.
Businesses may select suitable sustainable materials, improve logistics, reduce packaging, sell eco-friendly products, recycle, reduce waste and returns, support resale or repair, and manage water carefully. These actions can reduce resource use or extend product life, but depend on measurable evidence and may add costs, change suppliers or affect product performance.
Make claims testable
A useful sustainability decision identifies the impact being targeted, the baseline, a measurable outcome, the part of the chain affected and possible trade-offs. For example, lighter packaging could reduce material and transport weight but must still protect the product from damage.
Water stewardship includes responsible water use and management in the relevant location. A business should consider local water scarcity, supplier processes and effects on other users instead of reporting only its own factory consumption.
Sources for this lesson
Pause and explain
A firm wants to reduce water risk in a region facing drought. Which action fits?
Worked example
A retailer reduces packaging weight by 20% but customer returns rise because items are damaged. How should it judge the change?
Show the worked solution
- Measure material and transport savings from lighter packaging.
- Measure damage, returns, replacement transport and customer impact.
- Compare the total effect and redesign packaging if net environmental or financial impact worsens.
Answer The retailer should compare the packaging savings with added damage, returns and replacement transport. A lighter package is not a successful improvement if the total impact rises; testing a protective redesign may preserve savings while reducing damage.
Try a topic test
Choose Easy, Normal or Difficult. Save your answers and open worked review after finishing.
Test this topic →From guided practice to a new situation
Write your answer and reasoning first. Use a hint only if you are stuck. The model solution is for self-checking; your written work is not automatically marked.
A delivery firm can use route planning to reduce empty kilometres. Explain the sustainability mechanism and one measure of success.
Give me a hint
Connect fewer unnecessary trips to fuel, emissions or cost; choose a baseline measure.
Compare my reasoning
- Better route planning can combine deliveries and reduce unnecessary distance.
- Lower distance may reduce fuel use and emissions, depending on vehicle and load.
- Compare fuel or emissions per delivered parcel before and after while tracking service times.
Route planning can reduce fuel use by avoiding unnecessary or empty trips. Measure fuel or emissions per delivered parcel against a baseline, and check that delivery reliability has not declined.
Look for these in your work
- Mechanism explained
- Measure specified
- Service trade-off monitored
A manufacturer is considering recycled material, product repair and a resale marketplace. Compare how the actions affect different supply-chain stages.
Give me a hint
Map sourcing, product life and post-sale use; note quality, logistics and adoption.
Compare my reasoning
- Recycled material changes input sourcing and may reduce demand for virgin material if quality and supply are suitable.
- Repair can extend use and reduce replacement production but needs parts, skills and convenient service.
- Resale can keep goods in use but requires collection, grading, trust and reverse logistics.
Recycled inputs can reduce virgin-material demand but need reliable quality and sourcing. Repair extends product life if parts and service are available. Resale may keep products circulating but requires collection, condition checks and reverse logistics. The firm should measure material use and product life together.
Look for these in your work
- Each action mapped to a stage
- Trade-offs included
- Whole-chain measures proposed
A company claims its new product is 'eco-friendly' because it uses less packaging. What evidence should a buyer request before trusting the claim?
Give me a hint
Ask for comparison baseline, product protection, transport, materials and claim scope.
Compare my reasoning
- Request the amount and type of packaging before and after and the comparison period.
- Check whether product damage, returns or replacement shipments changed.
- Clarify which lifecycle stage and products the claim covers and whether evidence is independently checked.
The buyer should request a clear baseline, packaging data, evidence on product damage and returns, and the precise scope of the claim. A narrower, verifiable claim is more credible than a broad environmental label unsupported by whole-chain evidence.
Look for these in your work
- Baseline requested
- Offsetting impacts checked
- Scope and verification assessed
Common mistakes
- Treating one green feature as proof that a product is sustainable
- Ignoring returns, damage and end-of-life effects
- Assuming recycling is available everywhere
- Making environmental claims without evidence
What can you explain now?
Why should a business measure packaging changes alongside product returns?
Compare with the explanation
Because damage and returns can add replacement and transport impacts that offset material savings.
A supply-chain action can move impact elsewhere; evaluate the whole relevant process.
After trying it yourself, choose your next review. This is your self-assessment.
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Make it stick
Name three sustainability actions in a supply chain and one way to check whether an action worked.
If you needed the solution, close it and solve the problem again from a blank page. A correct answer is stronger when you can explain the reason for each step.