Supply Chains
SWISSCHAINS comprises case studies from four specific products that typify the sustainability challenges associated with long and complex resource supply chains:
- Cocoa in the context of chocolate supply chains;
- Gold in the context of jewellery supply chains;
- Cobalt, lithium, nickel, and other relevant metals in the context of lithium-ion battery supply chains;
- Plastic packaging with a focus on post-consumption impacts.
While the four examined supply chains share similar environmental and social impact challenges, their sectoral, production, market, consumption, and post-consumption characteristics are radically different. These characteristics allow us to explore the causal mechanisms linking context to outcome in a comparative analytic approach.
Cocoa farming and processing is linked to environmental degradation and social conflicts, including widespread deforestation, unsafe labor conditions, and child labor.
©Rodrigo Flores
Negative environmental and social impacts of mining are rarely included in the costs of goods in the consumer regions. ©Business Wire Increased demand for lithium-ion batteries, especially in the context of the mobility transition, raises the question of full life cycle footprints and mitigation costs. ©GETTY IMAGES
Negative environmental and social externalities of packaging production, consumption, and disposal have to be further internalized and distributed along the supply chain. ©Nick Fewings
