Waste sector small and medium-sized enterprises and their role in the extended producer responsibility; a case study of environmental responsibility in SMEs in eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa).

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.Both the waste sector and corporate enterprises, under the banner of corporate social and environmental responsibility (CSER), have a role to play in sustainable development, particularly in the South African context where legislation supports the waste hierarchy in its approach to waste management, and the promotion of employment and small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs, due to their vast number and the significance of their aggregate contribution to the global economy, have been identified as key contributors to sustainable development. Global supply chains rely heavily on SME suppliers and service providers, yet the combined environmental impact of SMEs remains un-quantified and their engagement in CSER is underexplored. This research explores the role that SMEs play in extended producer and environmental responsibility from a waste management perspective in the eThekwini Municipal area, describes the barriers that SMEs face when implementing environmental measures and provides a critical assessment of environmental responsibility in waste management supply chains. Case studies, where interviews and documentations were used as data collection methods, on waste management supply chains are provided. It is evident that there is a culture of outsourcing of the waste management function in the eThekwini municipal area and SMEs are an important component of the waste management value chain. However, environmental responsibility amongst the SMEs is poor as the SMEs response to supply chain or legislative pressure is weak. The bureaucracy of legal requirements of the waste sector, an ill-informed public and business sector regarding environmental issues, and the highly competitive nature of the waste sector are common obstacles experienced. In the face of difficulties such as limited resources, some SMEs are responding to legislative pressure and adopting the ISO 14001 certification. Many SMEs are responding to supply chain pressure in terms of the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Act and participating in social responsibility activities. Findings from this research support the government’s vision of the creation of employment, the promotion of small business within the waste sector and the role that SMEs play in sustainable development in South Africa however; there is a need for strategies to address the environmental problems of small business

Integrating sustainable supply chain practices with operational performance: An exploratory study of Chinese SMEs

With growing regulatory and market pressure to implement green practices, SMEs are facing enormous challenges to simultaneously improve operational and green performances of their supply chains. The paper aims to understand the green practices adopted by Chinese SMEs in the packaging sector in order to assess the impact of these practices in improving the operational performance. Case study-based research methodology is adopted and semi-structured interviews are conducted to collect data from seven SMEs in this study. Both in-case and cross-case analyses are performed to understand the green practices being adopted with the focus on improving the operational performance. The findings of this study indicate that although most SMEs understand the importance of green practices, they have limited knowledge to integrate these practices to improve operational performance. Integration and alignment of green activities with the operational improvement measures are identified as critical factors to develop an efficient green supply chain

The role of digital technologies in supporting the implementation of circular economy practices by industrial small and medium enterprises

The adoption of Industry 4.0's digital technologies can enable the implementation of circular economy practices. Nonetheless, current indications for industrial practitioners on how to exploit the broad set of technologies for circular transition appear unclear. This issue is even more challenging for small and medium enterprises, which are typically endowed with more limited resources than larger firms and are characterised by both a digital and circular divide. This present study contributes to the academic debate by offering an exploratory empirical analysis-based on semi-structured interviews-that involved 10 Italian industrial small and medium enterprises to deepen the knowledge of the supporting role played by digital technologies in implementing circular economy practices by small and medium enterprises, also considering the potential synergies among such technologies. Results are of interest also to industrial decision-makers, allowing them to exploit their firms' resources towards the adoption of those digital technologies that could be more effective to foster the circular transition

Assessment of maturity of reverse logistics as a strategy to sustainable solid waste management

Small- and medium-sized enterprises primarily focus on their operations and rarely pay attention to issues related to sustainable solid waste management that originate from their production processes. A suitable strategy to support sustainable solid waste management is reverse logistics. Through the use of maturity models, it is possible to determine the grade to which small- and medium-sized enterprises are prepared to perform this strategy. This study proposes an adapted maturity model to measure maturity levels of reverse logistics aspects at small- and medium-sized enterprises in regions from Colombia in order to contribute to sustainable solid waste management. The maturity model was applied to seven small- and medium-sized enterprises in the plastics sector in the central and southern regions of Colombia by adapting a maturity model that was previously correlated to suggested drivers and barriers in this sector. Results show that maturity levels range from naïve to immature owing to the incipient development of reverse logistics in Colombia. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a holistic vision of the organisation to improve the reverse logistics decision-making process to achieve sustainable solid waste managemen

Beyond Size: Predicting engagement in environmental management practices of Dutch SMEs

This study focuses on the prediction of the engagement of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in environmental management practices, based on a random sample of 689 SMEs. The study finds that several endogenous factors, including tangibility of sector, firm size, innovative orientation, family influence and perceived financial benefits from energy conservation, predict an SME’s level of engagement in selected environmental management practices. For family influence, this effect is found only in interaction with the number of owners. In addition to empirical research on SMEs’ environmental behavior, the article draws on the ecological modernization literature as well as the theory of planned behavior.