It is no doubt that these improvements indicate a company's strengths and opportunities in environmental sustainability management. .
2. Green supply chain management (GSCM) .
2.1 Eco-efficiency：.
Most retail chains are in favor of implementing GSCM practices within their organizations. There are several common strategies can be seen in improvements of energy efficiency, recycling, decrease of waste and lower Green House Gas (GHG) emissions during distribution. Although some retailers are encouraging suppliers to make progress on energy consumption, reduction of GHG, waste, and recycle packaging, they are still looking forward to initiate GSCM practices with their suppliers (Industry Canada 2015). For instance, IKEA aims to increase their business sustainability by means of using resources more efficiently and investing in renewable energy, which is beneficial to the planet, reduction of the costs and lower prices. The reason why many firms anticipate to lower down its carbon emission is that its business process includes revenue potentials in the supply chain. In a business, they need to pay attention to utilize supply chains similarly as solid networks by diminishing wastes (Sarkis 2014). In 2013, IKEA's home furnishings suppliers put a lot of efforts on improving energy efficiency, such as changes in the mix of energy sources in national grids, and the supplier's investments in renewable energy. The renewable energy used by suppliers increased gradually from 24.8% to 25.8 % (IKEA Group 2013). Another example is that IKEA provides a service for customer to recycle product waste, e.g. batteries, light bulbs, mattress. In other words, the damaged products are being sold in a promotional way, which can minimize IKEA's environmental waste and also can earn greater amount of profit rather than throwing away. This approach has materializing recyclability, which refers that IKEA is able to recycle damaged or discarded raw material into new products, rather than discarding it.
