Our Research
The MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics founded Sustainable Supply Chains to in order to 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. Learn more about our research below.
Current Projects at the Lab
“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...
Innovations in environmental training for the mining industry
The Sustainable Supply Chains team collaborated with the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative and multinational mining company Vale to bring sustainability education to young engineering professionals in Brazil. Learn more about the program below and on MIT News....
State of Supply Chain Sustainability
The MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics (MIT CTL) and the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals have teamed up to launch the annual State of Sustainable Supply Chains Report that will answer these questions — and help companies gain a better understanding of the importance of supply chain sustainability to their enterprises, industries, and the planet.
Circular Supply Chains
The Circular Supply Chain Initiative in MIT’s Center for Transportation & Logistics envisions and explores how companies can leverage supply chain circularity to contribute to their sustainability goals, with a special focus on waste. We help identify and assess...
Communicating Supply Chain Sustainability
A key question companies face is how to communicate their supply chain sustainability achievements externally. In the past decades, many companies have invested in enhancing the environmental sustainability and social responsibility of their supply chain. This process...
Supply Chain Traceability
In the wake of various global scandals in supply chains including contamination, labor scandals, and environmental impacts, motivations for supply chain traceability and transparency are growing.
Supply Chain Carbon Emissions
Carbon emissions are the de facto currency of climate change, yet many companies struggle to quantify carbon emissions, especially in the supply chain. Our researchers work with industry and stakeholders to develop and implement new methods to track and reduce carbon...
Last Mile Green Vehicle Assignment
Green vehicle assignment using Geospatial Analysis and Machine Learning algorithms
Previous Projects at the Lab
Organizational Change for Sustainability
s research focuses on the fundamental strategies and techniques required for organizational change to embed sustainability across the supply chain.
Technology Innovations For Supply Chain Traceability
This project is an investigation into technology innovations for supply traceability.
Towards Sustainable Palm Oil
The viability of entire industries depends heavily on social and environmental resources. One of the clearest examples of this is in the palm oil industry
Food Waste Startup: Spoiler Alert
Reduce wasted food leads to improved margin and & fights food insecurity.
Designing a Biodiesel Supply Chain in Mexico City
A System Design and Management Thesis focusing on the preliminary design and routing of a biodiesel supply chain in Mexico City.
Smart Way & Transporte Limpio
A comparison of the U.S. SmartWay program, an EPA public private initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions created by freight transportation of corporate supply chains, with the Mexican spinoff, Transporte Limpio.
Truck Drivers Quality of Life
This project examined current and best practices to improve the quality of life for truckers to increase driver retention for D4U, a trucking company based in Florida.
Get Involved
At SSC, research is developed and refined within real-world settings. MIT researchers are actively involved in research and education with companies, international NGOs, industry groups and governments.
Interested in collaborating with us? Do you have a research idea? Send us an email to set up a time to discuss your ideas, questions and sustainability goals.