Green efforts awarded

(Left to right) – Andrea Agostini of Foschini, Winston Muir of Scania South Africa, Louise Lindeque of the Chemical and Allied Industries Association, Barlow Manilal of CILTSA, Mapule Ncanywa of CGCSA, Francois van Rensburg of Barloworld Logistics, Pieter Jacobs of Magnet, Cobus Barnard of Pick ‘n Pay, Susan Custers of Promech Publishing and Carey-Anne Garbutt (Unitrans Customer Solution Development).

Awards

• Industry Leader - Winston Muir, bus sales Exco of Scania South Africa. The company is reportedly the first manufacturer to offer customers the option of a complete changeover to renewable liquid fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel, producing engines which feature exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) technology, which reduces emissions during combustion and the first to introduce environmentally-friendly buses to South Africa as part of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system.
  
• Best Project Award - Over R10 million - Unitrans Supply Chain Solutions and Pick 'n Pay for the Pick 'n Pay Green Initiatives, which comprises a number of environmental strategies designed to reduce water usage, energy usage and utilise materials from renewable sources at a warehouse level.
  
• Best Project Award - R1 to R10 million - Foschini Group Logistics for its greening initiative. Areas addressed included cardboard packaging, awareness amongst employees and electrical changes.
  
• Best Project Award - Up to R1 million - The Chemical and Allied Industries Association (CAIA) for its "Responsible Care Carbon Footprint Guideline," which assists companies about to embark on a carbon management strategy and those that are looking to improve on their existing measures, in formulating effective strategies.
  
• Best Product Awards - R1 to R10 million - Magnet, for its recently completed energy efficient lighting project for Transnet Rail Engineering (TRE) in the Durban Harbour area, reducing energy consumption by approximately 60%.
  
• Best Product Award - Up to R1 million - Barloworld Logistics for its collaboration on a key initiative that brings together lean process thinking with a commitment to innovation and environmental sustainability - a 'green trailer', expected to reduce fuel consumption between 6% and 8%.

Increased entries in number, quality

Susan Custers, publisher of Supply Chain Today, said, "We were delighted at the quality of the entries, but even more so with the number that were submitted. This is testament to the fact that these awards are rapidly gaining ground in the supply chain and logistics communities and we look forward to even more interest next year."

John Meiring, national council member for CILTSA, was also impressed by effort put in by smaller companies. "The judging was made more difficult due to the calibre of entrants, who were able to commit sufficient resources to make impressive presentations, against which the well-researched submissions from smaller operations had to be judged," he said. "With the increased experience in matters green, exposure and attention, future judging will be seriously tested."

"The Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) is proud to be a partner in this great initiative and we are committed to driving transformation in our industry towards a greener and sustainable supply chain," said Mapule Ncanywa, director of corporate services at CGCSA.

"Ultimately what we should have in the supply chain is a preferential procurement mindset with 'green' in the forefront when reviewing our businesses. Companies looking to transition to a green supply chain should be assisted to find suppliers who have minimised their environmental footprint without reducing the quality of their product. It is my hope that these awards will encourage and educate those in the supply chain who are still unaware that we have a responsibility to drive the cause for environmental management and sustainable development with reduced emissions," she concluded.

This year's awards were sponsored by Barloworld Logistics as the main sponsor, as well as JHR Equipment SA, SA Industrial Linings and TrenStar.