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Editorial
Sustainability and supply chain management e An
introduction to the special issue

Abstract

This paper introduces the special issue of the Journal of Cleaner Production on ‘‘Sustainability and Supply Chain Management’’. This
special issue mirrors the increasing relevance of this topic for both practitioners in companies, and academics. The purpose of this special issue
is to serve as a catalyst to this important topic. Environmental and social problems and challenges do not stop at the gates of single companies,
but have to be considered along the supply chains as the entities across which related material and information flows are organized. The aims of
the paper are to introduce current research topics and provide an overview of the single papers. The papers cover supply chain strength of regions
and regional activities as well as actions taken by small- and medium-sized manufacturing and public organizations. The papers in this issue also
take a look at performance indicators and closed-loop supply chain aspects. Amongst these topics, four papers incorporate social aspects, which
have been relatively and significantly less researched than environmental issues.
Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Sustainability; Supply chain management; Research opportunities; Corporate social responsibility; Environmental; Ethics

1. Introduction and their supply chains although numerous examples exist

Increased globalisation and continued outsourcing in vari-
ous industries have caused industry and organizations to func-
tion and compete on a supply chain or interwoven demand
networks’ level. Simultaneously with increased demands on
strong economic performance of these supply chains, organi-
zations are now held responsible for the environmental and so-
cial performance of their suppliers and partners. These
pressures are derived from a number of internal and external
sources including employees and management, socially aware
organizations, communities, governments and non-
governmental organizations. The pressures tend to reverberate
throughout the supply chain, but especially to those organiza-
tions whose brand names may be closest to the public eye such
as many consumer-based multinational organizations. Public
scrutiny has increased as consumers have become more
knowledgeable of the fact that it is not only the end product,
but also the supply chain that need close observance and mon-
itoring. Problems in environmental or social performance can
easily spoil the brand equities and sales of these organizations,
thus making overall supply chain performance a critical
competitive focus.
Responses to pressures from various external groups have
traditionally been a reactive stance taken by organizations
where organizations and their related supply chains introduce
green and socially responsible products, proactively, to the
market or processes to their supply chains. Thus organizations
see these many dimensions as issues that need to be addressed
for them to remain competitive in an increasingly aware world
and markets. In both cases, the responsive (reactive) and the
proactive situations form two extremes on a continuum. Within
this continuum a wide range of actions taken by companies
aiming for sustainable supply chains can be executed.
Therefore, we define sustainable supply chain management
as the management of material and information flows as well
as cooperation among companies along the supply chain
while taking goals from all three dimensions of sustainable
development, i.e. economic, environmental and social, and
stakeholder requirements into account. In sustainable supply
chains, environmental and social criteria need to be fulfilled
by supply chain members to remain within the supply chain,
while it is expected that competitiveness would be maintained
through meeting customer needs and related economic
criteria.
As management principles and theories associated with
sustainable supply chains continue to advance, the need for
additional investigation and critical analysis arises to further
understand the field. Historically, the concept of supply chains

0959-6526/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2008.02.002
1546 Editorial / Journal of Cleaner Production 16 (2008) 1545e1551
and the environment can be traced back over decades, but
focused academic and management research in this field can
only be traced to the past 10e15 years. The early 1990s saw
the growth and advent of business and environment, and indus-
trial ecology and industrial ecosystem research, which both
informed environmental supply chain management. During
this time, the nascent concept and term ‘supply chain manage-
ment’ was emerging and gaining popularity among researchers
and practitioners. Yet, both these emergent research topics
were going through ‘sense-making’ process. This early period
was a foundation building time for environmental supply chain
management by integrating the practices and developing
frameworks and models. Much of the early work was identify-
ing and describing what it meant to have environmentally
sound supply chain systems.
During this period, the concept of sustainability started to
incrementally enter the corporate environmental management
lexicon. The term sustainability also has its own history and
definition ranging from an inter-generational philosophical
stance to a multi-dimensional and multi-scale term for busi-
ness management. The inter-generational philosophy focuses
on making sure that future generations are not negatively
impacted by decisions we make today. The multi-dimensional
focus includes topics related to the ‘triple-bottom-line’ of
balancing corporate social responsibility including balancing
economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustain-
ability. The multi-scale focus includes geographical, institu-
tional, and temporal scales. That is, sustainability has been
applied to regions and countries as well as individual organi-
zations and partnerships including both short-term (months,
years) and long-term (decades) dimensions. This broadening
of the topic and its many meanings and dimensions have
made a coherent industrial research agenda in this field diffi-
cult. With the additional complexities of supply chain man-
agement, research and investigation becomes much more
than a trivial exercise.
During this time, additional insights and theory have been
used to further embellish and explain various organizational
phenomena related to environmental supply chain manage-
ment and sustainability. Perspectives from organizational
theory, operations management, business ethics, corporate
social responsibility, technology, engineering, economics,
policy, political science, law and environmental science have
combined with analytical approaches to play significant roles
in further refining the field and its direction. Recently a number
of special issues in operations and supply chain management
journals related to environmental supply chain management
have or will be published. From our perspective, other journals
are primarily focusing on environmental dimensions. What
separates our special issue is that we have made a concerted
effort to broaden the perspective to incorporate sustainability.
This goal was not an easy exercise due to the aforementioned
complexities. We encouraged researchers to broaden their
perspectives to go beyond the environmental principles of their
supply chains or to integrate environmental principles within
the corporate social responsibility focus of their supply chain
research.
2. Research opportunities in sustainable supply chain
management
In organizing this special issue, we identified a number of
opportunities and methods for research in the emergent and
rapidly maturing field. Some of these items we identified
that require investigation included:
 Reviews of certain lines of development regarding the
intersection of sustainability and supply chain
management.
 Empirical or case studies of companies and other supply
chain actors’ initiatives that aim to enhance sustainability
aspects that may be integrated into supply chain
management.
 Concepts and cases on the integration of particularly rele-
vant sustainability issues into supply chain management.
These topics might cover environmental and/or social
issues only.
 Contributions on the relation between the three dimen-
sions of sustainability (i.e. economic, environmental,
social) in a supply chain perspective, so that the under-
standing of winewin and trade-off situations is advanced.
 Case studies on how actors improve the sustainability per-
formance of products and services by collaboration in the
supply chain.
 The need or limits for supply chain integration for provid-
ing environmentally and socially sound products.
 The influence of cultural and ethical aspects in the context
of sustainability and supply chain management.
 Corporate Social Responsibility and supply chain
management.
 The interrelation between fair trade initiatives and supply
chain management.
 The use of environmental and social standards in supply
chain, in particular for supplier evaluation.
 The interrelation of sustainable supply chain management
with other concepts of inter-organizational sustainability
management.
What you will see in the upcoming special issue is a broad
variety of research directions, methodologies and insights
based on research from all over the world. We intentionally
did not limit the methodological perspectives and include con-
ceptual, analytical, and practical papers in the mix. We hope
that these papers provide a more complete picture of the
state-of-the-art of research in this continually growing disci-
plinary field.
Table 1 offers an overview of the 15 papers contained in
this special issue. It is interesting to note that the methodolo-
gies include case study research and modelling approaches in
six papers each. This is not necessarily historically representa-
tive of the research in this field, where in recent years survey
research has also played a major and increasing role. The
treatment of environmental issues in 12 papers is more in
line with the mainstream research in sustainable supply chains.
Expanding the sustainability focus we see that social
 Editorial / Journal of Cleaner Production 16 (2008) 1545e1551 1547

Table 1
An overview to the papers in the special issues
Authors Title Sustainability dimension Methodology
Environmental Social
Vachon and Mao Linking supply chain strength to sustainable development: A country-level analysis X X Survey
Côté et al. Influences, practices and opportunities for environmental supply chain management in X Case study
Nova Scotia SMEs
Kovács Corporate environmental responsibility in the supply chain X X Case study
Ciliberti et al. Investigating corporate social responsibility in supply chains e A SME perspective X Case study
Sigala A supply chain management approach for investigating the role of tour operators on X X Case study
sustainable tourism: The case of TUI
Preuss and Walker Fostering sustainability through sourcing from small businesses: Public sector perspectives X Case study
Bala et al. Experiences with greening suppliers e The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona X Case study
Ellram et al. Applying 3DCE to environmentally responsible manufacturing practices X Literature review
Lai et al. An economic and environmental framework for analyzing globally sourced auto parts X Model
packaging system
Tsoulfas and Pappis A model for supply chains environmental performance analysis and decision making X Model
Schmidt and Schwegler A recursive ecological indicator system for the supply chain of a company X Model
Georgiadis and Besiou Sustainability in electrical and electronic equipment closed-loop supply chains: X Model
A system dynamics approach
French Improving Sustainability through effective re-use of product returns e minimizing X Model
waste in a batch blending process environment
Hutchins and Sutherland An exploration of measures of social sustainability and their application X Model
to supply chain decisions
Seuring and Müller Literature review of peer-reviewed publications on sustainable supply chain management X X Literature review
Total 13 6

dimensions are included in five of the papers that appear in the
special issue. This result exemplifies an observation that social
dimensions of sustainability have started to gain the attention
of research agendas of researchers. Only three of the papers
balance and address both environmental and social issues.
This balance is expected to be one of the major challenges
for future research as well as corporate practice. Dealing
with these trade-offs among the three dimensions will stay
on the agenda and offer opportunities and challenges.
3. An overview of the special issue contributions
Observing that the integration and balancing of these major
dimensions is a critical issue, we begin the sequence of the
papers with Vachon and Mao. In the paper ‘‘Linking supply
chain strength to sustainable development: A country-level
analysis’’, Vachon and Mao investigate the potential link
between supply chain characteristics and sustainable develop-
ment at the country level. In particular, the linkage between
supply chain strength, generally defined as the number and
quality of the suppliers and customers in a country, and three
dimensions of sustainable development namely environmental
performance, corporate environmental practices, and social
sustainability is assessed. Using archival data from The Global
Competitiveness Report (2004e2005) and the 2005 Environ-
mental Sustainability Index, a statistical assessment of the
linkage was conducted. The results indicate that supply chain
strength is positively linked to all three dimensions of sustain-
able development. This leads to the interpretation that trade-
offs among the dimensions of sustainability do not exist.
Such findings support that companies take a proactive
approach towards managing sustainability issues in their
supply chains.
The author team of Côté, Lopez, Marche, Perron and
Wright study ‘‘Influences, practices and opportunities for
environmental supply chain management in Nova Scotia
SMEs’’. Their starting point is that supply chain management
offers considerable opportunities to reduce a company’s envi-
ronmental impact. The supply chains of three small and me-
dium enterprises (SMEs) operating in the Burnside Industrial
Park in Nova Scotia, Canada are investigated to explore the
opportunities to improve environmental performance of
SMEs linked in supply chains. This study has confirmed that
time and, to a lesser degree, financial resources to address
solid waste and energy issues are the greatest limiting factors.
This study demonstrates that opportunities do exist to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and solid waste. Although the ben-
efits that would be gained from the implementation of any of
the individual actions in the supply chains explored in this
study are individually small, the cumulative benefits that could
be achieved among supply chains and within industrial parks
are substantial given the number of small and medium-sized
enterprises.
‘‘Corporate environmental responsibility in the supply
chain’’ across corporate boundaries is an important issue in
the literature. In this special issue two articles discuss this
from different perspectives. Kovács examines various
dimensions of corporate environmental responsibility, up-
stream and downstream of product and process supply chains
in a study based on 16 case studies in Finnish trans-national
corporations. One of the most interesting findings of her study
is a disruption of environmental demand in the supply chain.
Environmental demand spilling over from other industries
1548 Editorial / Journal of Cleaner Production 16 (2008) 1545e1551
leads to a multiplying effect of industry regulations across
several supply chains. Thus environmental demand crosses
industrial and geographical borders, giving way to global stan-
dards. In this way, supply chains can be seen as mediators of
industry regulation.
The paper ‘‘Investigating corporate social responsibility in
supply chains e A SME perspective’’ from Ciliberti
Pontrandolfo and Scozzi analyzes the practices adopted and
difficulties experienced by small and medium-sized enter-
prises to transfer socially responsible behaviours to suppliers
that operate in developing countries. They conducted a multi-
ple case study on five Italian socially responsible small and
medium-sized enterprises. An important finding in their
research was that consumer behaviour is not a corporate social
responsibility (CSR) driver; the companies decided to engage
in CSR due to the personal values of the owner. The compa-
nies in their study use a management strategy towards
suppliers that combines compliance requirements and capacity
building approaches. The findings have shown that these
organizations invest significant resources in communicating
CSR to suppliers, and in monitoring and auditing their
suppliers. This finding further supports Kovács’ contention
that there is a need for global standards to regulate communi-
cation and monitoring in the supply chain.
Sigala presents insights into a service management related
supply chain, an issue that has also not received much atten-
tion in the literature on sustainable supply chain. As the title
emphasizes ‘‘A supply chain management approach for inves-
tigating the role of tour operators on sustainable tourism: The
case of TUI’’, one particular group of actors in a service indus-
try is addressed. This research is justified because of the
impact that tour operators as focal companies have on the
design of the overall service. In choosing a single case study
approach, the author provides in-depth insights into the mea-
sure taken to apply supply chain management thought in
a tourism environment. TUI uses tourism demand forces and
pressures for motivating suppliers to adopt sustainable prac-
tices. Their goal is achieved by publishing good sustainable
performance internally and externally, e.g. in travel agents’
catalogues, brochures, websites, and related publications,
where rankings of suppliers are provided.
Another non-traditional industrial supply chain aspect is
evaluated by Walker and Preuss in their article ‘‘Fostering
sustainability through sourcing from small businesses: Public
sector perspectives’’. Sourcing from small businesses does
have implications for the governance of sourcing processes
and would benefit from a partnership approach. The authors
examine barriers to public sector sourcing from small busi-
nesses and they made suggestions how these can be overcome.
Their cases concentrated on the health sector and local govern-
ment as the largest sub-sections of public procurement in the
UK. The case study data show sourcing from local suppliers
can improve the local economic situation, which can have
follow-on benefits in terms of well-being and health of
the local population. Supporting local small businesses to
become public sector suppliers thus makes a direct contribu-
tion to the economic and social aspects of sustainability.
The final case study paper by Bala, Mu~ noz, Rieradevall
and Ysern investigates ‘‘Experiences with greening
suppliers e The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona’’. Similar
to Walker and Preuss their study focuses on a public adminis-
tration supply chain. This paper explains the strategy and pro-
cedures followed by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
(UAB) to spread green purchasing practices throughout its
administration and supply chain, highlighting the identified
barriers against their implementation and monitoring, and
showing the actions carried out to overcome them. One issue
is the long public tender process and the question on how sup-
pliers are monitored, which is a central problem in many on
the initiatives undertaken in sustainable supply chain manage-
ment. A second issue is the quality and performance of pur-
chased products and services, which should, of course, not
fall behind those of conventional products. Again, this points
to the question of trade-offs.
In line with this goal and focusing on durable products,
instead of services, the article from Ellram, Tate and Carter
titled ‘‘Applying 3DCE to environmentally responsible
manufacturing practices’’ deals with the on-going interest in
improving new product development performance. The simul-
taneous design of product, process and supply chain (3DCE),
has been proposed as a way to improve traditional new product
development outcomes, such as reduced time to market, lower
costs, and improved customer acceptance. Environmentally
responsible manufacturing (ERM) and new product develop-
ment concentrate on reduced emissions, hazardous materials
elimination, and lower product weight without sacrificing
functionality. The authors are interested in the question if
employing 3DCE to integrate new product development and
ERM yields better benefits than could the separate and unco-
ordinated application of environmental goals and new product
development initiatives? They developed a framework which
suggests that studies examining the alignment of product,
process, and supply chain are needed to improve outcomes
and to expand the body of knowledge in the area of ERM.
The consequences of seemingly simple supply chain deci-
sions can become quite complex from a sustainability perspec-
tive. For example, the decision for the type of packaging can
have profound implications on how organizations’ sustainabil-
ity manages their supply chains. Lai, McGinnis, Zhou and
Guldberg in their contribution titled ‘‘An economic and
environmental framework for analyzing globally sourced
auto parts packaging system,’’ provide a prescriptive, opera-
tional framework to help organizations and managers begin
to grasp and make sense of the complexities involved in the
management of sustainable supply chains. Using various
models and databases they show how an integrative perspec-
tive can be completed for a packaging and transportation
decision. An interesting underlying thought in the manage-
ment of the sustainable supply chain that was observed in
this paper is that need to consider and dynamically evaluate
multiple types of boundaries in a supply chain.
In a similar prescriptive context to Lai et al., Tsoulfas and
Pappis provide some valuation and decision models that rely
on a comprehensive definition of environmental performance
 Editorial / Journal of Cleaner Production 16 (2008) 1545e1551
indicators. In their paper titled ‘‘A model for supply chains
environmental performance analysis and decision making,’’
they focus on the more complete internal supply chain ranging
from product design and manufacture to transportation and
logistics. An insightful perspective here is that not only oper-
ational and technical performance characteristics are impor-
tant, but also a clear set of organizational, management, and
motivational dimensions are introduced into the evaluation.
The implicit and explicit implications for internal and external
monitoring, control and reporting from such a comprehensive
set abound.
In line with this aim to develop appropriate performance
indicators, Schmidt and Schwegler build on life-cycle assess-
ment thought in their paper ‘‘A recursive ecological indicator
system for the supply chain of a company’’. They propose the
concept of cumulative eco-intensity with which environmental
or sustainability indicators are related to the added value of
economic activities. Eco-intensities are thereby defined as
the ratio between ecological expenditure and economic benefit
or the inverse of eco-efficiency. Hence, emphasis is placed on
developing one aggregate indicator. The authors point out that
such an approach at comparatively low expenditure for the
individual companies allows vertical comparisons along the
value-adding chain and horizontal comparisons among compa-
nies or production locations The link to the supply chain is
established as related environmental burdens are passes on
with the material flows in the supply chain. Such top-level
indicators can be used to guide general decision making, but
would have to be complemented with more specific ones, as
for example, proposed by Tsoulfas and Pappis.
The importance of the topic and dimension of motivational
items are not lost in Georgiadis and Besiou’s study titled
‘‘Sustainability in electrical and electronic equipment closed-
loop supply chains: A system dynamics approach’’. But the
motivation and drivers for these studies focus on broader
levels of external pressures on developing and maintaining
a closed-loop supply chain within the electronics and electrical
equipment industry. This study focuses specifically on a Euro-
pean country’s efforts to meet the WEEE requirements.
Instead of prescriptive decision analysis model, a system
dynamics model to understand the implications and roles of
various ecological motivations is described for a straightfor-
ward case study relying on a single product and single pro-
ducer. We see that the complexities continue in this
situation, but we are now focusing on a broader social and leg-
islative level of influence. At this level of analysis, theoretical
models such as institutional theory and ecological moderniza-
tion theory can play a significant role.
The importance of product take back in various contexts
has led to a wide range of research on closed-loop supply
chain and reverse logistics in recent years. The paper of
French on ‘‘Improving sustainability through effective re-
use of product returns e minimizing waste in a batch blending
process environment’’ offers a unique contribution as it takes
a look at process industries . A case study of a successful
re-use program in a batch blending production environment
is presented. This involves not only addressing the company’s
1549
own potential waste, but also working with distributors and
customers to take back and re-use product, thus eliminating
the customers’ burden of disposal. Implications of the program
for downstream supply chain partners are identified and
a structured approach for implementation is presented. Modi-
fication for use in similar production environments is possible,
enhancing sustainability, while providing environmental as
well as economic benefits.
One of the goals of this special issue was to broaden topic of
sustainability measures and indicators in supply chains to incor-
porate social dimensions. We have seen that environmental and
economic dimensions and performance indicators were devel-
oped and analyzed in papers by Lai et al., and Tsoulfas and
Pappis, yet the issue of social dimensions did not seem to play
as large a role. This gap was filled somewhat in the contribution
by Hutchins and Sutherland. In their paper titled ‘‘An explora-
tion of measures of social sustainability and their application to
supply chain decisions,’’ Hutchins and Sutherland seek to ex-
pand the discussion of sustainability to include the critical third
dimension of metrics of social sustainability. As is evidenced by
their title, this is exploratory work that starts the foundation for
expanding research and work in this area. A weighted scoring
scheme, similar in context to Tsoulfas and Pappis, is introduced.
A comprehensive example is presented to provide insights into
how these metrics may be integrated.
As the last paper of this special issue, Seuring and Müller
provide a literature review of sustainable supply chain man-
agement. Their review is based on 191 papers published in
English language peer-reviewed journals. As a result of this
extensive literature review, they conclude that the sustainable
supply chain management field is dominated by environmen-
tally focused research. Contributions to social issues and inte-
grative sustainability are only beginning to be investigated.
Further, the authors provide a framework to structure the
research in this field by considering the triggers as well as pro-
posing two major research directions that include: (1) supplier
management for risks and performance, where emphasis is
placed on avoiding risk from suppliers with poor performance
on set environmental and social standards; this situation might
require additional criteria for supplier evaluation, and (2)
supply chain management for sustainable products as a more
proactive strategy. The objective of this review is to challenge
producers to develop and market products and services which
fulfill increased environmental, social equity and sustainability
standards. The authors emphasize that an essential and urgent
ingredient for making improvements in supply chain manage-
ment is to make dramatic and systematic improvements in
multi-directional communication among all stakeholders
along the supply chain. Internal stakeholder will require train-
ing and education into sustainable supply chain principles and
their implications with supporting incentive systems. External
and internal stakeholders will require mechanisms that can be
effective conduits for this communication ranging from
personal relationship developments to advanced electronic
commerce based systems. Stewardship programs will need
to be further enhanced such that all members of the supply
chain clearly know their roles and have the necessary tools
1550 Editorial / Journal of Cleaner Production 16 (2008) 1545e1551
to complete them effectively. Developing and adopting appro-
priate integrative sustainability philosophies and tools, many
of which were reviewed in these papers and presented in
this special issue, are necessary. It is the responsibility of all
stakeholders internal and external to be involved in furthering
the goals of a sustainable supply chain.
4. Conclusions
The environmental and social burdens caused by govern-
mental, manufacturing, services, profit and non-profit organi-
zations will continue to exist. The source and management
of these environmental and social burdens is not the sole
responsibility of one organization; whole supply chains and
networks of supply chains must be involved. Research in
understanding the roles, management, tools, and mechanisms
for sustainable supply chains must be augmented in order to
help meet these challenges.
In this special issue, we provide a comprehensive look at
these issues and at emergent research needs and themes. One
glaring and disconcerting issue remains. Even though many sup-
ply chains begin and increasingly also end in Asia or in develop-
ing countries, we did not receive nor accept many papers on this
topic from those regions of the world. A major part of
manufacturing and service provision in Asia is carried out by
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These SMEs often
form critical parts of the supply chains with larger organizations.
Tremendous opportunities exist to influence the operating prac-
tices and technologies of SMEs to incorporate environmental
and social initiatives. Taking advantage of such opportunities
to incorporate sustainable practices can be very effectively
achieved through sustainable supply chain management.
Based on our sample of contributions, there is a lack of
rigorous research by researchers who are geographically
located in these areas, as well as research that focuses on these
regions of the world. In particular, because we do not have
a paper from this geographic area in our special issue, we
especially encourage researchers in this part of the world to
take part in the process, and invite established researchers in
other parts of the world to co-work with researchers in these
geographic regions. We especially encourage partnerships
with researchers in developed and developing countries where
resources can be shared and knowledge exchanged so that
future research becomes publishable in the most influential
academic and professional journals. We do not know the
reasons for the dearth of this type of research in these regions,
but a call for additional research in this area is clearly needed.
Given this observation, the papers included in this special
issue were selected through a rigorous review process and
have stood up to the critiques of experts in the field. Out of
dozens of submissions, what is left is research that our
reviewers felt made contributions to advancing knowledge in
this field. We expect that the documents selected will provide
future researchers with new insights for furthering their
research in supply chain management. We realize that this is
only one step in furthering our efforts to make this a better
world for ourselves, our children, and our fellow living beings.
It is our hope that you enjoy this special issue and that new
ideas germinate in directions we have not foreseen but would
be valuable for future progress.
Acknowledgements
As is the case with any peer-reviewed journal paper, we
would like to thank all those who contributed to putting
together this compilation of research. Most importantly and
specifically, we thank Prof. Donald Huisingh, Editor-in-Chief
of the Journal of Cleaner Production, who gave us the oppor-
tunity to guest-edit this special issue. We sincerely thank him
for his continued support and insights into the process. We
also extend our heartfelt gratitude to all who helped us in
reviewing the papers. Forty-two manuscripts were submitted
for consideration in the special issue. Thirty-five manuscripts
were approved and sent out for review. Only 15 papers were
finally accepted for the special issue.
The special issue editors wish to thank the following
reviewers for their time and contribution:
Benita Beamon, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
Christoph Bey, ESC La Rochelle, France
Claudia Binder, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Frances Bowen, University of Calgary, Canada
Andreas Brekke, Norwegian School of Management, Oslo,
Norway
Alan Brent, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Maria Hugh Brodin, University of Linköping, Sweden
Roger Burritt, University of South Australia, Adelaide,
Australia
Scott Butner, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA
Raffaela Cagliano, Politechnico di Milano, Italy
Pavel Castka, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Bob Cavana, Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand
Anthony SF Chiu, De La Salle University, Manila,
Philippines
Eva Collins, University of Waikato, New Zealand
Jo Crotty, Aston University, UK
Nicole Darnall, George Mason University, Fairfax, USA
James Eflin, Ball State University, USA
Margaret A. Emmelhainz, University of Georgia, USA
Simme D. P. Flapper, University of Twente, The
Netherlands
Jutta Geldermann, University of Göttingen, Germany
Edeltraut Günther, Technical University of Dresden,
Germany
Geoffrey Hagelaar, Wageningen, The Netherlands
Jeremy Hall, University of Calgary, Canada
Jens Hamprecht, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Marilyn Helms, Dalton State College, USA
Diane Holt, Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland
Michael Sogard Joergensen, Danish Technical University,
Copenhagen, Denmark
Robert Klassen, University of Western Ontario, Canada
Beatrice Kogg, University of Lund, Sweden
Julia Koplin, Volkswagen AG, Germany
 Editorial / Journal of Cleaner Production 16 (2008) 1545e1551
Gyöngyi Kovacs, Hanken, Helsinki, Finland
Harold Krikke, University of Tilburg, The Netherlands
Rudolf Large, HTW Saarland, Germany
Lise Laurin, Earthshift, Huntington, USA
Teresa McCarthy, Lehigh University, USA
Brian McGarrie, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK
Oksana Mont, University of Lund, Sweden
Paul R. Murphy, John Carroll University, USA
Menno Nagel, Delft University of Technology, The
Netherlands
Steve New, University of Oxford, UK
Hanna-Leena Pesonen, University of Jyvaskylä, Finland
Sanna Poikkimäki, University of Jyvaskylä, Finland
Gerald Rainer, University of Neuchatel, Switzerland
Gordon Rands, Western Illinois University, USA
Christine Meisner Rosen, University of California at
Berkeley, USA
Frank Schultmann, University Siegen, Germany
Dayna Simpson, University of Melbourne, Australia
Bent Søndergaard, Roskilde University, UK
Rainer Souren, Technical University of Ilmenau, Germany
Achim Spiller, University of Göttingen, Germany
Dirk Pieter van Donk, University of Groningen, The
Netherlands
Walter Vermeulen, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
Helen Walker, University of Bath, UK
Grit Walther, Technical University of Braunschweig,
Germany
1551
Natalia Yakovleva, University of Cardiff, UK
Qinghua Zhu, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian,
China
Stefan Seuring*
Department of International Management, Faculty of Organic
Agricultural Sciences, University of Kassel, Steinstrasse 19,
37213 Witzenhausen, Germany
*Corresponding author.
E-mail address: seuring@uni-kassel.de
Joseph Sarkis
Graduate School of Management, Clark University, 950 Main
Street, Worcester, MA 01610-1477, USA
E-mail address: jsarkis@clarku.edu
Martin Müller
Chair for Production and the Environment, Institute for
Business Administration, Carl von Ossietzky University of
Oldenburg, Uhlhornsweg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany
E-mail address: martin.mueller@uni-oldenburg.de
Purba Rao
Asian Institute of Management, Joseph R. McMicking Campus,
123 Paseo de Roxas Street, 1260 Makati City, Philippines
E-mail address: purba@aim.edu
Available online 24 March 2008