Walgreens shows green supply chain leadership

Drugstore chain Walgreens was recently awarded the United States Environmental Protection Agency's 2012 SmartWay Excellence Award. This honor recognizes the company's commitment to supply chain efficiency and high environmental standards.

Walgreens has taken its role as a leader seriously, and has striven to decrease environmental pollution and optimize its supply chain. By revising shipping routes, the company enjoyed significant cost savings and decreased the amount of carbon its trucks emit into the atmosphere.

Aside from improving its shipping fleet's efficiency and carbon output, the company has also implemented other steps to go green. In recent years, Walgreens has taken up projects to reduce operating costs. According to its website, the company has started building stores with a focus on sustainability and has even begun to add solar energy panels to some of its locations. A recent initiative to reduce plastic bag usage will also slash expenses and reduce plastic waste that ends up in landfills.

"Walgreens is always looking for innovative ways to improve performance when it comes to efficiency and environmental sustainability," said Reuben Slone, the company's senior vice president of supply chain management. "We continue exploring new technologies and strategies to improve fuel efficiency, lower costs and encourage stewardship of the environment."