Barriers to green supply chain management in Indian mining industries: a graph theoretic approach

A country's mining industry, despite its significant contributions to the country's economic growth, generally has a very poor public image because it is considered as a major environmental polluter. To acquire an improved social image, as well as to comply with government regulations, mining industries are increasingly implementing environmental management systems (EMS), cleaner production (CP), and adopting green supply chain management (GSCM) practices. GSCM focuses on a reduction of the adverse impacts of supply chain activities as well as a minimization of energy and material usage. This study focuses on the mining industry as a case study by which we will identify factors and sub-factors hindering GSCM implementation. A graph theoretic and matrix approach (GTMA) has been used to quantify the adverse impact of these barriers on GSCM implementation. An assessment of the inhibiting strength of the barriers will help decision makers rank them and decide a course of action that will make an optimum utilization of available resources during times of resource scarcity.