Operationalization of producer responsability principle in Italian end-of-life tire market

Sustainability is increasingly present in supply chain (SC) management researches. Despite that, no clear understanding on how to operationalize the so called “extended producer responsibility” (EPR) principle is currently available. Building on the outputs of the EC LIFE RoadTire project, this research sheds some light on how supply chain can be exogenously reshaped to explicitly consider the entire lifecycle of the products and on how a total cost perspective can lead to fairly include the effects of resource inefficiencies throughout the supply chain. The analysis is exemplified by using the results of a case study, namely the Italian end-of-life tires (ELTs) market, where environmental concerns are forcing existing organizations to pursue sustainable ELTs management practices even if, in the short run, economic impacts are still uncertain. In the first place, the different phases of the ELTs supply chain are analysed, and the operations and practices involved are related with the impact on the environment from an evolutionary perspective. In the second place, entrepreneurial dynamics are examined under the lens of a grounded-in-theory model and the rationale for the introduction of sectorial policy (exogenous actions) is discussed. In doing so, conclusions are meant to contribute to the debate on to what extent these induced corrections have to move the focus on environmental management and operations from local optimization of environmental factors to consideration of the entire supply chain during the production, consumption, customer service and post-disposal disposition of products. The arising challenges are summarised and the implications for further research on sustainable supply chain adaptation are discussed.