206
compliance with the relevant codes, as well as conformity with independent initiatives such as GRI and Global Compact (see below).
Independent institutions are also supporting LCM through advice, training and
sometimes through formal procedures. A good example of the latter is the Global
Reporting Initiative (GRI) ( www.globalreporting.org ). The GRI Board of Directors
identifi ed disclosure on sustainability issues across the supply chain as a revision
priority based on feedback from its committees and the wider GRI network. While
GRI is not itself undertaking LCM, the increased transparency of individual company activities leads to greater management attention to the corporation’s impacts
along the value chain, eventually resulting in actual LCM oriented management
interventions to improve value chain performance.
The Global Compact ( www.unglobalcompact.org/ ) brings major corporations
around a number of agreed sustainability principles. The GC Toolkit contains relevant instruments required for an application of life cycle management approaches,
from assessment techniques to value chain interventions such as SCM and EPR.
There is also a role for policy intervention, beyond simply encouraging information and training. An in-depth review by the OECD titled “Sustainable Materials
Management – Making Better Use of Resources” (OECD 2012 ) explores a set of
policy principles for SMM application, examines how to set and use targets and
analyses case studies from member countries. In this publication, SMM is closely
aligned with LCM and explores the subsidiary instruments that make it function.
6 Life Cycle Management in Regional Development
LCM is not limited to corporate activity; it is an important concept at regional level
where we have substantial resource and product fl ows, major infrastructure developments and important issues of social and human development. Many regional
administrations have formally adopted sustainability objectives and are already
undertaking footprint studies and ecological assessments. Life cycle ideas are creeping into individual programs and operations. But there is as yet little visibility of
formal LCM approaches in most administrations, especially when confronted with
long-term issues and complex material fl ows. This is not to say that LCM in not
relevant, rather its use has not yet fi ltered down to regional administrators in a
major way.
Nevertheless, some initiatives are already in this direction. Sustainable public
procurement has become more evident in municipalities, although mostly without
the technical backup in assessment. Nor do these programs actively “manage” the
products they are purchasing – they are more of a ‘buy/not buy’ nature that sends
relatively weak signals through the supply chain.
Thus while the Province of Nova Scotia has a sustainable procurement requirement under legislation, there is not a strong administrative capability to make it
function effectively. A recent study in Canada found that supplier engagement was
weak in most sustainable procurement programs at provincial level (Reeve 2012 ).
F. Balkau et al.
compliance with the relevant codes, as well as conformity with independent initiatives such as GRI and Global Compact (see below).
Independent institutions are also supporting LCM through advice, training and
sometimes through formal procedures. A good example of the latter is the Global
Reporting Initiative (GRI) ( www.globalreporting.org ). The GRI Board of Directors
identifi ed disclosure on sustainability issues across the supply chain as a revision
priority based on feedback from its committees and the wider GRI network. While
GRI is not itself undertaking LCM, the increased transparency of individual company activities leads to greater management attention to the corporation’s impacts
along the value chain, eventually resulting in actual LCM oriented management
interventions to improve value chain performance.
The Global Compact ( www.unglobalcompact.org/ ) brings major corporations
around a number of agreed sustainability principles. The GC Toolkit contains relevant instruments required for an application of life cycle management approaches,
from assessment techniques to value chain interventions such as SCM and EPR.
There is also a role for policy intervention, beyond simply encouraging information and training. An in-depth review by the OECD titled “Sustainable Materials
Management – Making Better Use of Resources” (OECD 2012 ) explores a set of
policy principles for SMM application, examines how to set and use targets and
analyses case studies from member countries. In this publication, SMM is closely
aligned with LCM and explores the subsidiary instruments that make it function.
6 Life Cycle Management in Regional Development
LCM is not limited to corporate activity; it is an important concept at regional level
where we have substantial resource and product fl ows, major infrastructure developments and important issues of social and human development. Many regional
administrations have formally adopted sustainability objectives and are already
undertaking footprint studies and ecological assessments. Life cycle ideas are creeping into individual programs and operations. But there is as yet little visibility of
formal LCM approaches in most administrations, especially when confronted with
long-term issues and complex material fl ows. This is not to say that LCM in not
relevant, rather its use has not yet fi ltered down to regional administrators in a
major way.
Nevertheless, some initiatives are already in this direction. Sustainable public
procurement has become more evident in municipalities, although mostly without
the technical backup in assessment. Nor do these programs actively “manage” the
products they are purchasing – they are more of a ‘buy/not buy’ nature that sends
relatively weak signals through the supply chain.
Thus while the Province of Nova Scotia has a sustainable procurement requirement under legislation, there is not a strong administrative capability to make it
function effectively. A recent study in Canada found that supplier engagement was
weak in most sustainable procurement programs at provincial level (Reeve 2012 ).
F. Balkau et al.