MIT Sustainable Supply Chain Lab
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What are Sustainable Supply Chains?
Supply chains are a powerful mechanism for connecting people and products, providing a ready venue for industry and stakeholders to collaboratively advance the Sustainable Development Goals. As consumers, governments and investors become increasingly conscious of environmental and social issues, many companies seek to address their concerns by reconsidering their supply chains. But identifying, and more importantly, finding appropriate solutions for better and more sustainable systems proves challenging to most corporations that need to carefully balance competing business objectives and priorities.
The MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics launched Sustainable Supply Chains in 2018 as an umbrella program that brings together our sustainability research, education, and outreach. Our mission is to support organizations to improve logistics and supply chain operations by creating applied and innovative research aimed at fostering growth while considering environmental and social sustainability.
Our mission is to support organizations to improve logistics and supply chain operations by creating applied and innovative research aimed at fostering growth while considering environmental and social sustainability. We connect research outcomes to practical settings, enabling companies and stakeholders to leverage supply chains as a beneficial force to reaching global sustainable development goals. We seek to improve visibility of supply chain impacts and develop strategies to help reduce them, so companies can better address consumer, political, and shareholder concerns.
Current Research Initiatives
Sustainable Supply Chain engages in research with industry-leading companies, institutions and fellow academics.
State of Supply Chain Sustainability
Carbon Footprinting
Supply Chain Traceability
Communicating Supply Chain Sustainability
Circular Supply Chains
More Sustainable Research at MIT CTL
The MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics has several Sustainable initiatives that aim to connect research outcomes to practical settings, enabling companies and stakeholders to leverage supply chains as a beneficial force to reaching sustainable development goals.
Sustainable Logistics Initiative
MegaCity Logistics Lab
Humanitarian Supply Chain Lab
Our Research Partners


















Sustainable Supply Chain Updates
Green Home Delivery Consolidation
Last-mile home delivery is the last segment of the delivery process, and within there are significant fulfillment constraints and an associated economic and environmental costs. The “Green Button” Project allows customers to make the eco-friendly choice of waiting a...
“Green Button Project” Consumer Preference for Green Last Mile Home Delivery
In the era of e-commerce and climate change, sustainability in last-mile delivery operations has a pivotal role. The boost of online shopping and increasing expectations of fast shipping means more vehicles on the road with lower utilization, higher frequency of...
Decarbonizing the Air Transportation Sector
New Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) greenhouse gas (GHG) emission accounting and insetting guidelines developed through a collaboration between MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics (MIT CTL) and Smart Freight Centre (SFC).
State of Supply Chain Sustainability | Earth Day Infographic 2021
It’s our annual Earth Day State of Supply Chain Sustainability Infographic release. This year we highlight the insights on Covid-19 and Supply Chain Sustainability
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