DHL Express has introduced a "carbon-neutral" envelope for U.S. customers.

Recent issues in the European food supply have resulted in supply chains making the news for all the wrong reasons. Consumers have been shocked at revelations that products labeled as beef also contained significant quantities of horsemeat, up to 100 percent in some cases. More than a month after the Food Safety Authority in Ireland published its findings of traces of horse DNA in burgers, we are still seeing daily announcements of new product withdrawals by retailers across Europe.

Analyst Insight: Sustainability is a global business megatrend with cross-functional implications that for-profit corporations cannot afford to ignore any more than IT or quality management. Sustainability means balancing environmental impacts, social welfare and profit-making activities to promote value along the so-called "triple bottom line." Given increasingly conscientious consumers and growing limits to resource availability, success in the era of climate change will be reserved for companies that have sustainable supply chains and operations. - Nada Sanders, Professor and Iacocca Chair, Lehigh University; Director of EcoNautics Sustainability Institute

International experts are meeting at International Maritime Organization headquarters this week, in the form of an Expert Workshop, to begin updating the inventory of greenhouse gases from international shipping.

Analyst Insight: Sustainability has been on consumer packaged goods executives' minds - and part of their strategic plans - for some time now. In the past, many companies have pursued sustainability because they saw it as the right thing to do. At the same time, sustainability also creates positive morale among employees, helps to meet regulations such as those for emissions, and boosts companies' reputations. But only recently has sustainability truly been connected and aligned with financial performance. - Bruce Tompkins, Executive Director, Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium

President Barack Obama is trying to persuade the United States to adopt a cap-and-trade system to curb greenhouse gas emissions. But the European Union's Emissions Trading System "” the world's flagship effort "” is sputtering. European carbon permits, which traded at about €30 ($40) per ton a few years ago, are now hovering at about €5 per ton or less.

Brent Beabout, senior vice president of supply chain with Office Depot, describes how the company slashed packaging waste by switching from corrugated cardboard to paper bags for deliveries to consumers and business. A finalist in the Supply Chain Innovation of the Year competition.

Labelmaster, a manufacturer and distributor of items for complying with regulations on the movement of hazardous materials, has added reusable crates to its product line.