Frontiers in Business, Economics and Management 
ISSN: 2766-824X | Vol. 15, No. 3, 2024 

 

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Lenovo's Green Supply Chain Management Framework 
for Green Development of Enterprises 

Jiayuan Chen 1, *, Lunzhi Gan 2 

1 Sichuan University of Light and Chemical Engineering, Yibin 644002, Sichuan, China 

2 Sichuan University of Light Industry, Yibin 644002, Sichuan, China 

* Corresponding author: Jiayuan Chen (Emaill: 2396044932@qq.com) 

 

Abstract: With the continuous development of the global economy, environmental problems have become one of the greatest 
challenges facing mankind. In order to achieve sustainable development, enterprises need to continuously adjust and improve 

their business models and strategies, combining environmental protection with economic benefits to achieve a win-win situation. 

Nowadays, the awareness of environmental protection is gradually increasing, and enterprises are no longer limited to interna l 

green management, but gradually shifting to green co-operation practices among supply chains. Faced with pressure from society, 

government, consumers, and enterprises in the same industry, and in order to actively respond to the national "dual-carbon" goal, 

i.e., to achieve carbon peak by 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, manufacturing enterprises are also actively 

establishing green supply chains through a variety of green management tools to increase the sustainability of products or services, 

improve social benefits, and enhance the sustainability of products and services, as well as improve social benefits. services, 

improve social benefits, and help enterprises improve their corporate image. Therefore, starting from Lenovo Group's green 

supply chain management framework, this paper explores its three-tier supply chain consisting of fellow traders, upstream 

suppliers, and downstream retailers, which stimulates the enthusiasm of the main supply chain enterprises, and at the same time, 

can reduce the green governance costs for the main supply chain enterprises, and increase the motivation to implement green 

behaviors. 

Keywords: Green supply chain, Environmental management accountants, Optimisation Recommendations. 

 

1. Introduction 

1.1. Background and Significance of the Study 

1.1.1. Research Background 
At present, the development of green supply chains faces 

three key issues. Firstly, the research and application of green 

supply chain in China started late, and most of the supply 

chain practices are carried out by multinational corporations, 

while the cost of enterprises undertaking green governance 

activities alone is high and the return cycle is long, so the 

implementation of green governance within the enterprise 

will bring a huge burden to the enterprise; secondly, as the 

core enterprise of the supply chain, it is difficult to come up 

with effective green cooperation models to solve the problem 

in the face of the problem of high cost of green governance. 

Secondly, as a core enterprise of supply chain, it is difficult to 

come up with an effective green cooperation mode to solve 

the problem when facing the problem of high green 

governance cost, and there is a lack of favourable cooperation 

mechanism between upstream and downstream of the supply 

chain and the same industry to achieve the cost sharing and 

value co-creating; thirdly, there is a significant difference in 

the perception of green development and management level 

of the core enterprises in the supply chain, and it is difficult 

to form the green conscious behaviour of the enterprises, and 

it is difficult to coordinate the implementation of the supply 

chain green strategy. 

1.1.2. Research Significance 
Against the background of deepening global economic 

integration and green transformation of the global economy, 

manufacturing enterprises will face more intense global 

competition, and adjusting structure, controlling costs, and 

pursuing higher-quality development in order to gain 

competitive advantages are common issues that every 

enterprise needs and faces. At present, domestic and 

international research on science and technology 

manufacturing enterprises mainly focuses on industrial 

structure optimisation, enterprise upgrading and new energy 

development strategy. Based on the perspective of green 

supply chain development, this paper proposes a green supply 

chain idea that responds to the dual-carbon goal from a 

holistic and comprehensive point of view, taking into account 

the profitability of the enterprise, and analyses the green 

supply chain management framework of Lenovo Group, so as 

to provide reference for related enterprises to build a green 

supply chain. 

1.2. Research Methodology 

First, the literature collation method, through the collection 

and collation of relevant reference materials, to summarise 

and summarise the relevant research literature on green 

supply chain and environmental management accounting on 

their own, to understand the relevant theoretical basics and 

key points, to understand the history of theoretical 

development, the use of methods, combined with the current 

policy guidelines, to provide a theoretical basis for the study 

of Lenovo Group's green supply chain in this paper. Secondly, 

the case study method, taking Lenovo Group as a 

representative, combined with the actual situation and 

operational characteristics of the enterprise, the composition 

and implementation process of its green supply chain is 

studied in detail, and according to the theoretical overview 

and case study, corresponding optimisation suggestions are 

given. 



 

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1.3. Current Status of Research at Home and 
Abroad 

1.3.1. Current Status of Foreign Research 
The green supply chain concept was first proposed by the 

School of Manufacturing at Michigan State University in a 

1996 study on environmental manufacturing [1]. The goal is 

to integrate the green manufacturing concept and supply chain 

management, so that the products in the whole supply chain 

chain link from raw material acquisition, processing, 

packaging, storage, transport, use to recycling process to 

consider the environmental impact and resource efficiency, to 

give full play to the competitiveness of the market, and to 

achieve the unity of the economic, social and environmental 

benefits. Beamon (1999) believes that the green supply chain 

model can be expanded appropriately, for example, by adding 

the factors of Beamon (1999) believes that the green supply 

chain model can be expanded appropriately by including 

factors such as manufacturing, recycling and reuse, and 

adding resource regeneration-related indicators to the 

environmental indicators [2]. Jeremy (2000) pointed out that 

enterprises and society should be the starting point of green 

supply chain operation, and in order to maximise 

environmental benefits, synergistic effects should be pursued, 

and every link in the supply chain should be treated as an 

integral part of the supply chain. In recent years, scholars at 

home and abroad have added the "Triple Bottom Line 

Principle" to the study of green supply chain. Elkington was 

the first to put forward the concept of "triple bottom line" 

from the microeconomic perspective. He believes that 

enterprises need to consider the balanced development of 

economy, environment and society in the process of 

production and operation. 

1.3.2. Status of Domestic Research 
At present, the characteristics of China's manufacturing 

industry of high input, high consumption and high emission 

lead to the ecological and environmental problems it faces, 

and there is an urgent need to accelerate the construction of 

green manufacturing system. Domestic academic research on 

green supply chain is slightly lagging behind. Wang Nengmin 

(2007), on the basis of recognising the understanding of the 

predecessors, made a more detailed elaboration on the 

significance of the innovative management mode of green 

supply chain, and considered that this management mode is 

an innovative achievement in solving the contradiction 

between ecological environmental protection and the speed of 

economic development, which provides a new solution to this 

contradiction. At the same time, they established a brand-new 

model on the basis of sustainable development and discussed 

the basic principles of symbiosis, circulation, alternative 

conversion and system openness [3]. According to Ji Guojun 

and Yang Guangyong (2011), a green supply chain is a supply 

chain model based on sustainable development that enhances 

the economic, social and environmental benefits of 

enterprises at the same time. Jiao Rui (2020) applies the fuzzy 

comprehensive hierarchical analysis method to the green 

index system and proposes a reasonable evaluation index 

system for suppliers in the green supply chain on the basis of 

the traditional supply chain [4]. Zhao Lu (2020) improves the 

existing management process of the green food packaging 

industry based on the principle of life cycle evaluation from 

the core links of product marketing, packaging, materials, 

manufacturing and recycling treatment, and innovates the 

original technical system. 

2. Relevant Concepts and Theoretical 
Foundations 

2.1. Concepts Related to Green Supply Chains 

2.1.1. Definition of a Green Supply Chain 
Formed in the 1990s, green supply chain is a modern 

management approach that takes into account the use of the 

environment and resources in the supply chain, and it is 

important for green pollution prevention and green product 

development practices. Green supply chain management is 

the potential integration of environmental management 

thinking into supply chain management practices and is an 

important concept for organisations to gain profit and market 

share as well as reduce environmental risks and impacts. 

Green supply chain management is a product of the times of 

supply chain management in the green economy development 

situation, which emphasises the process of systematic 

planning, regulation, implementation, control and 

optimisation of the entire supply chain. Through supply chain 

management, it can optimise the production and operation 

activities within the enterprise, help integrate the whole chain 

of enterprise production, and help improve the economic 

efficiency of the enterprise. 

With the development of its theory, the exchange and 

cooperation with related enterprises have gradually received 

attention, entrepreneurs have noticed the influence of the 

external environment of the supply chain, and updated the 

view of the supply chain, that the supply chain can be viewed 

as each enterprise in the enterprise supply chain, including the 

upstream enterprise's production and manufacturing, the 

intermediary's assembling and distribution, and the 

downstream retailers, etc., which will transform the raw 

materials into the product, and finally let the product flow to 

the end The process of transforming raw materials into 

products and finally letting the products flow to the end 

customers. In the past few years, more and more attention has 

been paid to the network-chain relationship centred on core 

enterprises [5]. 

2.1.2. Five Dimensions of a Green Supply Chain 
(1) Green procurement: Green procurement is to ensure the 

greening of raw materials and to control pollution at the 

source. 

(2) Green production: green production is the core 

embodiment of green supply chain management, in the 

production process not only to use the procurement of green 

raw materials, but also to ensure that to reduce the degree of 

pollution in the production process on the environment as 

well as to improve the recycling rate of materials. 

(3) green marketing: green marketing refers to the product 

packaging, storage, transportation, distribution and 

processing processes follow the scientific design, through the 

optimal configuration of each node, so that its emissions to 

achieve the minimum, so as to achieve maximum utility. 

(4) Green Consumption: Green Consumption is to advocate 

that consumers and producers should abstain from 

consumption, try to avoid or reduce damage to the 

environment, and resist the use of polluting products. 

(5) Green Recycling: Green recycling is mainly for the 

reuse of products that can be recycled again and again, for 

products that cannot be put into use again, the enterprise 

should take a scientific method of disposal. 



 

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2.2. Concepts Related to Green Supply Chain 
Management 

2.2.1. Definition of Green Supply Chain Management 
Green supply chain management is based on the traditional 

supply chain management model and adds the concept of 

environmental and resource conservation to promote the 

sustainable development of enterprises and communities. 

Although green supply chain management originates from the 

traditional supply chain management model, it infiltrates the 

green eco-approach into the whole supply chain, and makes 

use of the efficient collaboration between producers and 

suppliers as well as various departments within the enterprise 

to maximise the green eco-economic benefits of the enterprise, 

thus enabling the enterprise to achieve sustainable 

development. Green supply chain management is an 

advanced scientific management approach that takes into 

account the environment, resource efficiency and company 

interests in the overall supply chain process. Compared with 

the traditional supply chain management model, it has higher 

information management complexity and network 

characteristics. Taking the sustainable development of the 

society and the company as the starting point, in order to 

reduce the company's damage to the natural environment, the 

design concept of eco-environmental protection is integrated 

into it, and the whole process from the supply of raw materials 

to the disposal of waste products can improve the 

environmental performance under the collaboration within 

the company. 

2.3. Definition of Environmental Management 
Accounting 

Environmental management accounting (EMA) emerged 

in the 1960s to effectively manage environmental and 

economic performance through the development and 

implementation of environmentally related accounting 

systems and practices. The United States Environmental 

Protection Association formally put forward the concept of 

environmental management accounting in the 1990s, and the 

relevant theories have been developed in various countries. At 

present, only the objectives, definition, discipline positioning 

and other aspects of environmental management accounting 

have been focused on research and exploration, 

environmental management accounting integrates economics, 

management, accounting, statistics and other disciplines, 

comprehensive and cross-cutting characteristics are obvious, 

the scope of research is not easy to clearly define, so the 

construction of related theoretical system is hindered. At 

present, most enterprises do not pay enough attention to the 

disclosure of environmental accounting information, and the 

disclosure of published environmental accounting 

information is inaccurate and incomplete. Many enterprises 

still lack the conscientiousness of applying environmental 

management accounting, and some of them only pay attention 

to short-term interests, think that the application of 

environmental management accounting will increase the cost, 

and lack the effective measurement and control of 

environmental costs, and lack the infrastructure and 

application conditions in the specific application. 

2.4. Relevant Theoretical Foundations 

2.4.1. Sustainable Development Theory 
Sustainability is healthy development that meets the needs 

of today without compromising the ability of the next 

generation to do so. The definition of sustainable 

development contains two main components, "needs" and 

"limits to needs". In order to develop, we must first meet basic 

human needs. The constraints on the ability to meet needs are 

mainly those that will harm the environmental needs of future 

human beings. Sustainable development requires people to 

pay attention to economy, harmony with the natural 

environment and social justice in development, and finally 

realise the comprehensive development of human beings. 

Sustainable economic development involves three aspects: 

the economy, the natural environment and human society. In 

the macroeconomic sphere, sustainable growth focuses not 

only on the quantitative indicators of macroeconomic 

development, but also on the pursuit of the intrinsic qualities 

of economic development; in the area of ecological 

construction, sustainable development requires that socio-

economic development must be combined with the 

maintenance and enhancement of the quality of the Earth's 

ecological environment, so as to achieve the sustainable use 

of land resources and ecological environment, and so as to 

realise that the economic development of human beings does 

not exceed the Earth's natural carrying capacity; in the social 

area, sustainable growth suggests that the countries of the 

world can have different levels of development and different 

specific objects of growth, and that the essence of their 

growth should be the improvement of the quality of human 

life, the promotion of human health, and the provision of 

social conditions that guarantee equity, rights and fairness, 

rights and the right to avoid violence. 

2.4.2. Environmental Resource Value Theory 
The theory of the value of environmental resources is a 

theory of value from the perspectives of ecological 

compensation and benefit value. In addition to their 

ecological role, environmental resources also have a certain 

economic role and are closely related to human production 

activities. However, due to the traditional economic theory, 

environmental resources belong to the zero-cost use of public 

resources, does not have economic utility, so many regions in 

the early stages of development of ecological resources for 

large-scale plunder, one-sided only the pursuit of economic 

development speed, unaware of the huge damage already 

caused to the environment, until the environmental resources 

began to reduce significantly, cannot see the road to 

sustainable development before regretting it. The value 

attributes of environmental resources are beginning to be 

realised by people, such as in the exploration, exploitation, 

research and development of environmental resources in the 

process of a large number of human and material resources 

value, which means that the environmental resources are not 

just pure ecological energy, but valuable, which is the core of 

the theory of the value of environmental resources. Fully 

understanding and recognising the value of ecological 

resources is one of the theoretical conditions for managing 

environmental costs. 

2.4.3. Institutional Theory 
Institutional theory is a set of tangible and intangible 

frameworks and systems of rules with the three distinctive 

features of public policy, namely, legitimacy, universality and 

coercion. Institution-based view is to study the strategic 

development of enterprises based on institutions, it believes 

that legal norms, the efficiency of law enforcement, the 

degree of government intervention and other features of the 

national system will directly determine the effectiveness of 

the allocation of resources and the level of transaction costs, 



 

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thus affecting the results of strategic planning and 

implementation in the enterprise. Institutions can be 

conceptually divided into formal and informal institutions, 

and the comprehensive theoretical framework of formal and 

informal institutions is also an important theoretical basis for 

the study of institutional environment variables. 

3. Analysis of Lenovo's Profile and 
Motivation for Building Green 
Supply Chain Management 

3.1. Lenovo Group Overview 

3.1.1. About Lenovo 
Lenovo is a global technology company founded in China 

with operations in 180 markets. With a focus on globalisation, 

Lenovo has set an industry-leading example of a diverse 

corporate culture and operating model, serving more than 1 

billion users worldwide. As a trusted global technology leader, 

Lenovo helps its customers to grasp tomorrow's technology 

and transform the world today. As a leading global ICT 

enterprise, Lenovo adheres to the concept of "Intelligence for 

Every Possibility" and provides users and the whole industry 

with smart devices that integrate applications, services and 

the best experience, as well as powerful cloud infrastructure 

and industry intelligence solutions. 

As a global leader in smart devices, Lenovo provides 

hundreds of millions of smart devices, including computers, 

tablets, smartphones, etc. Lenovo is the world's No. 1 PC 

seller in 2018. As a top global provider of enterprise 

digitalisation and intelligent solutions, Lenovo actively 

promotes the development of "device + cloud" and 

"infrastructure + cloud" across the industry, as well as the 

implementation of intelligent solutions. Facing the industrial 

upgrading opportunity of the new round of intelligent change, 

Lenovo puts forward the strategy of intelligent change, 

focusing on the three directions of intelligent Internet of 

Things, intelligent infrastructure and industry intelligence to 

become the leader and enabler of intelligent change in the 

industry. At present, Lenovo is divided into three business 

groups: Intelligent Devices Group, Infrastructure Solutions 

Business Group, and Solutions and Services Business Group, 

with about 82,000 employees globally and operations in more 

than 180 countries and regions. 

3.2. Analysis of Lenovo's Motivation to Adopt 
Green Supply Chain Analysis 

3.2.1. Empowering with Technology and Innovation, 
Contributing Value to Society 

As the people's aspirations for a better life continue to grow, 

fulfilling social responsibility and creating social value have 

become the basic expectations of the state and society for 

enterprises, and corporate social value is being closely 

integrated with stakeholders, socially responsible investment 

and sustainable development, and has become a new dynamic 

and new force to promote high-quality and sustainable 

development of enterprises. Lenovo's social value is to serve 

the country, the industry, the environment and people's 

livelihoods in four aspects as a starting point, empowered by 

scientific and technological innovation, to be the standard 

bearer of the "double-cycle", to be the main force of high-

quality development, to help the common wealth with 

practical actions, and to take responsibility in promoting the 

high-quality development of the economy and society. 

3.2.2. Implementing the New Development Concept and 
Promoting High-Quality Development 

Lenovo is entering a new stage of development, focusing 

on its own development while making more contributions to 

the country, society and mankind. Lenovo has always been a 

"country of greatness", and in the process of responding to the 

national strategy, Lenovo takes the responsibility of 

promoting the high-quality development of the whole society 

as its own, the livelihood of the people as the starting point, 

and environmental governance as the goal of long-term 

development, and fully fulfils the social responsibility of a 

high-tech enterprise. 2022, Lenovo will accelerate the 

integration into the new development pattern of "double-

cycle" in the country and the world, overcome the geopolitical 

situation, shortage of parts, and the impact of inflation on 

society. In 2022, Lenovo accelerated its integration into the 

new domestic and international "double-cycle" development 

pattern, overcame the challenges of geopolitics, shortage of 

parts, and the return of inflation, and achieved record 

performance, with all its main businesses historically 

profitable; from co-creation, sharing to co-advancement, it 

has contributed to high-quality development with science and 

technology innovations; it has benefited the people's 

livelihoods with its science and technology and let more 

people enjoy the convenience brought by science and 

technology innovations; it has adhered to the innovation-

driven approach, and fully fulfilled its social responsibility as 

a high-tech enterprise. We adhere to the innovation drive, use 

the power of science and technology to build a green and low-

carbon beautiful home, and continuously create new social 

value. 

3.2.3. Building a Strong Supply Chain System 
The multi-dimensional layout of the supply chain has 

become an important part of Lenovo's core competitiveness. 

Domestically, Lenovo has built two manufacturing bases in 

Hefei and Wuhan, and together with the Tianjin Intelligent 

Innovation Service Industrial Park and the Southern 

Intelligent Manufacturing Base, Lenovo has constructed an 

all-round layout of intelligent manufacturing covering the 

"East, West, South, North and Central". Globally, Lenovo has 

more than 30 manufacturing bases, provides products and 

services for 180 markets, and has established good and solid 

cooperative relationships with more than 2,000 core suppliers. 

Businesses cover electronic equipment manufacturing, 

software and information services, precision electronics, 

biometrics, etc. Downstream distributors cover software and 

information technology services, wholesale and retail, and 

other various fields, enabling Lenovo to achieve global 

sourcing, global manufacturing, and global logistics. Lenovo 

fully recognises the importance of local suppliers, which not 

only reduces logistics costs and greenhouse gas emissions, 

but also promotes local economic development. in 2022, 

domestically, about 90% of Lenovo's productive sourcing 

expenditures are associated with local suppliers. In terms of 

production model, Lenovo adopts a hybrid manufacturing 

model combining its own factories, OEM (Original 

Equipment Manufacturer) and ODM (Original Design 

Manufacturer), so that Lenovo's production and 

manufacturing activities, to achieve a dynamic balance 

between capital investment and controllable effects, and 

through the system's co-ordination and synergies, to provide 

a greater degree of elasticity in the corresponding resource 

deployment, and to reduce the risk of a single source of goods. 

In response to the new requirements for intelligent and 



 

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digital upgrading of the supply chain in the new era, Lenovo 

has established a digital platform with suppliers to promote 

collaboration with digital intelligence and ensure the global 

nature and flexibility of the supply chain; it promotes the 

coverage of the entire supply chain scenario, provides 

scenario-based solutions, and serves as the intelligent brain 

and command centre of the global supply chain through the 

supply chain intelligent control tower, which is responsible 

for monitoring and guiding end-to-end supply chain activities; 

it has increased the use of graphical neural network, digital 

control tower, and digital control tower in the supply chain. 

We will increase the transformation of technological 

achievements in key areas such as graph neural network, 

reinforcement learning and multi-intelligence learning, and 

endeavour to create a collaborative, consistent, agile and 

demand-driven supply chain ecosystem, so as to continuously 

widen the powerful moat of resilient supply chain. 

3.2.4. Creating a Responsible Procurement Supply Chain 
Process 

(1) Supplier Management System. Lenovo is committed to 

ESG management in the end-to-end supply chain process, and 

helps ensure that suppliers meet or exceed applicable labour, 

environmental, health and safety, and ethical standards by 

developing ESG-specific systems and supporting contractual 

provisions. 

(2) Supplier Access. Lenovo reviews all new suppliers in 

accordance with relevant regulations such as sustainability 

policy, code of conduct, ISO certification, ESG standards, 

environmental impact, prevention of forced labour and public 

reporting. 

(3) Supplier Audit. Lenovo requires suppliers to obtain 

RBA (Responsible Business Alliance) VAP audits and 

Factory of Choice (FOC) certification. Regardless of the 

supplier's self-assessed level of risk, Lenovo requires that 95% 

of its suppliers (in terms of purchase value) undergo RBA 

VAP audits every two years or equivalent independent third-

party audits conducted by RBA-approved auditing 

organisations. In addition to implementing Lenovo's formal 

RBA programme, the Global Supply Chain team works with 

Lenovo's Personal Computer and Smart Device (PCSD) 

Quality team to conduct on-site audits of supplier facilities. 

(4) Supplier assessment and evaluation. Lenovo utilises the 

Supplier ESG Scorecard to manage supplier ESG 

performance in more than 30 dimensions, including RBA 

project performance, environmental project performance, 

responsible raw material sourcing, and the EcoVadis project, 

and scores suppliers on a quarterly basis. 

(5) Supplier training and internal training. Lenovo has set 

up training files for suppliers to help them learn the company's 

ESG requirements and practical knowledge in ESG-related 

areas. 

4. Lenovo Green Supply Chain Case 
Study 

4.1. Overview of Lenovo's Green Supply Chain 
Management Framework 

Lenovo continues to focus on the sustainable development 

of its supply chain, taking compliance as the basis, eco-design 

as the fulcrum, and full life cycle management as the 

methodology, exploring and piloting "cradle-to-cradle" 

practices, gradually establishing a comprehensive green 

supply chain management framework, and building a "five-

dimensional and one-platform", namely, "green production", 

"supplier management", "green logistics", and "green 

recycling". "Green Production", "Supplier Management", 

"Green Logistics", "Green Recycling" and "Green 

Packaging". "Green packaging" five dimensions and a "green 

information disclosure (display) platform", to guide and drive 

the upstream and downstream industrial chain to achieve low-

carbon development and reduce carbon footprint. The supply 

chain is formulated from the dimensions of green energy use 

by suppliers, greenhouse gas emissions in the transport chain, 

and product end-of-life management. 

4.1.1. Green Production 
Lenovo's R&D team works closely with suppliers on 

lightweight and integrated design, and introduces compliant 

recycled/modified materials such as industrially-renewable 

component plastics (PIC), post-consumer recycled plastics 

(PCC) and closed-loop recycled plastics (CL PCR), ocean-

converting plastics (OBP) and recycled metals into its 

products. The use of these materials not only saves natural 

resources and energy needed to manufacture new materials, 

but also reduces the disposal of waste materials to landfills. 

While achieving environmental benefits, we are able to 

produce products that meet Lenovo's high-performance 

standards. 

4.1.2. Chain Management 
In 2019, Lenovo initiated the ICT High Quality and Green 

Development Alliance, joining hands with head suppliers 

such as BOE and Lixun Precision to set standards, share 

practical experience in low carbon, and provide customised 

coaching to willing small and medium-sized suppliers and 

organise regular trainings, so as to enhance their ability to 

reduce carbon emissions. In 2021, Lenovo sent out 

questionnaires on scientific emission reduction to suppliers 

on a regular basis, to understand and analyse the In 2021, 

Lenovo will send out questionnaires on scientific emissions 

reduction to suppliers on a regular basis to understand and 

analyse the challenges and difficulties faced by suppliers in 

setting scientific emissions reduction targets. Currently, 

suppliers accounting for 28 per cent of Lenovo's purchasing 

volume have committed to joining the Global Science-based 

Carbon Target Initiative or setting science-based carbon 

targets. In the future, Lenovo plans to promote the 

participation of suppliers accounting for 95% of its 

procurement value in scientific carbon reduction activities, 

covering about 100 major suppliers. 

Lenovo actively drives upstream and downstream suppliers 

in the supply chain to reduce carbon in science, becoming the 

first IT brand to disclose suppliers on the IPE Green Supply 

Chain Map. Strengthening supplier environmental 

management and publishing the list of important suppliers on 

its official website to accept public supervision. We have set 

environmental management targets in multiple dimensions, 

such as suppliers' green energy use, greenhouse gas emissions 

from transportation, and product end-of-life management, 

and launched the Key Supplier ESG Scorecard, which 

includes more than 30 indicators for management, such as the 

code of conduct, CDP performance assessment, water 

resource reduction targets, conflict minerals management, 

greenhouse gas emissions reduction, and sustainability 

reports. Lenovo's management of suppliers' environmental 

performance Lenovo has implemented RBA (Responsible 

Business Alliance) audits in its management of suppliers' 



 

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environmental performance, supporting suppliers to prioritise 

the use of environmentally friendly materials where 

applicable. 

4.1.3. Green Logistics 
Lenovo Logistics, as a key component of the global supply 

chain, is committed to reducing the Scope 3 GHG emissions 

intensity from upstream transport and distribution by 25% by 

2030 (compared to 2018 and 19). Logistics' emissions 

accounting and reduction efforts are aligned with the Global 

Logistics Emissions Council (GLEC) framework and drive 

reductions through multimodal transport, modal optimisation, 

consolidation and utilisation, network optimisation, 

technology and automation, rewards, and recognition of 

partners' relevant achievements. Lenovo promotes emission 

reductions through multimodal transport, optimisation of 

transport modes, integration and utilisation, optimisation of 

networks, technology and automation, and rewarding and 

recognising partners for relevant achievements. At present, 

Lenovo mainly adopts the following measures to promote 

carbon emission reduction in logistics: 

(1) Low-carbon transport: Lenovo is committed to using 

land transport and sea transport to replace air transport. 

Domestic transport is dominated by land transport, for 

example, 97% of the freight volume of Infrastructure 

Solutions Business Group (ISG) is transported by road. 

(2) Clean energy: Explore the use of low-carbon fuels in air 

and marine transport; increase the proportion of new energy 

vehicles used in logistics and distribution. 23% of electric 

forklifts in China's regional distribution centres and 

warehouses in 2022, a 3% increase from the previous year, 

and 21% of electric trucks in last-mile distribution in 2021, a 

3% increase from the previous year. 

(3) Improved efficiency: For international shipments 

exported via Shanghai, UnionPower Technology has 

improved the truck loading rate, resulting in 747 fewer trucks 

being transported in 2022 than before. In the park, the 

introduction of 5G new energy trucks and self-driving 

logistics lines in the park could increase the park's transport 

efficiency by 20%. 

4.1.4. Green Recycling 
Lenovo is committed to controlling the environmental 

impact of the product life cycle to the maximum extent 

possible, increasing the recycling of reusable products and 

accessories, and carrying out the Product End-of-Life 

Management (PELM) project to reuse, dismantle, recycle, 

decompose, treat and dispose of wastes of products and 

components that have been taken out of use, have reached the 

end of their life cycle or have been scrapped, so as to achieve 

the regeneration of resources, and to promote energy-saving, 

emission reduction and the development of a green circular 

economy. Lenovo Lenovo provides consumers and customers 

with a variety of e-waste recycling channels globally, 

including Asset Recovery Services (ARS), and further 

harmless treatment. Maximise the recovery and recycling of 

materials. Maximise the value of surplus, returned or obsolete 

products and parts by taking measures such as reuse, 

refurbishment, remanufacturing, dismantling, recovery, 

disassembly, recycling, waste treatment and disposal. 

4.1.5. Green Packaging 
(1) Tailor-made, green and low-carbon, Lenovo intelligent 

packaging "careful calculation". 

Lenovo's innovative intelligent packaging solution not only 

focuses on packaging consumables, but also strives for 

excellence in space utilisation. Artificial intelligence tailor-

made packaging for products according to specific 

dimensions, through artificial intelligence algorithms to 

optimise packaging and loading in all dimensions, from 

packaging to transport to achieve the optimal combination of 

space and materials. Application scenarios cover the entire 

field from packaging cartons, pallets or pallets to containers 

or containers, which not only saves packaging materials, but 

also significantly optimises the loading space, thus improving 

transport efficiency, lower carbon and more efficient, and is a 

model of lean manufacturing in the field of packaging. 

Lenovo's green packaging has covered various industries, not 

only for the carbon emissions "subtraction", but also shoulder 

to do intelligent transformation "addition", for the 

transformation of enterprises to inject green power. 

(2) Lenovo Sustainable Packaging Programme 

Lianbao Technology actively carries out green design and 

successfully creates the Remember sustainable packaging 

programme through the innovative dual-cycle model of raw 

material sources and production processes. The programme 

adopts the waste corners of FSC certified paperboard as raw 

materials, and uses environmentally friendly wet-pressing 

technology to make pulp-moulded packaging boxes, 

achieving excellent product cushioning and protection, while 

significantly reducing the use of brand-new paper-based 

materials, waste turnover and recycling energy consumption, 

and realizing the recycling and processing of the "inner cycle". 

Users can transform into practical and beautiful photo frames 

for secondary use through simple assembly, while the 

environmentally friendly material of the packaging can be 

biodegraded and composted under natural conditions, thus 

realising the "external cycle" of the external environment. 

 

4.2. Lenovo Green Supply Chain Key Performance 

4.2.1. Economic Performance Dimensions 

Table 1. Economic Performance of Lenovo's Green Supply Chain Implementation 

Indicator/year 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 

Revenue (RMB bn) 2,878.91 3,239.99 3,219.55 3,856.02 4,546.45 

Year-on-year growth in total revenue (%) - - 1 20 18 

Gross profit (RMB bn) 398.16 467.93 530.52 620.09 764.89 

Gross profit growth rate (%) - - 13 17 23 

Taxes (RMB bn) 17.77 12.66 13.53 29.28 39.51 

R&D expenses (RMB bn) 80.86 80.39 84.80 92.30 131.63 

 



 

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4.2.2. Environmental Performance Dimensions 

Table 2. Environmental Performance of Lenovo's Green Supply Chain Implementation 

Indicator/year 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 

GHG emissions (metric tonnes CO2 equivalent) 

Scope 1 6,371 6,031 7,766 7,269 6,069 

Scope 1 (By site) 193,760 201,321 162,597 177,678 191,778 

Scope 2 (market) 176,800 26,029 23,852 21,519 21,160 

Scope 3 (total) 14,660,700 16,010,994 17,531,179 19,976,020 12,324,408 

Emission intensity: GHG (by location) 

(metric tonnes/million RMB revenue) 

0.69 0.64 0.53 0.48 0.43 

Energy intensity of operational consumption Scope 1 and Scope 2 (by location) (MWh/million RMB revenue) 

Fuel consumption 0.12 0.10 0.11 0.09 0.05 

Purchased energy (electricity, steam, cooling) 1.03 0.98 0.91 0.81 0.75 

Operational energy consumption - Scope 1 and Scope 2 (by location) (MWh) 

Fuel consumption 34,733.55 30,904.82 35,152.32 33,156.59 24546 

Purchased energy (electricity, steam, cooling) 298,019.77 316,482.68 292,645.18 313,526.43 342,340 

Energy consumption by major energy source (Gigajoules) 

Fuel 125,041 111,257 126,548 119,364 88,364 

Electricity 955,624 979,486 979,740 1,053,903 1,165,186 

Steam 108,649 144,240 66,051 70,092 62,213 

Cooling 8,599 9,016 7,731 4,701 5,023 

Total 1,197,913 1,243,999 1,180,071 1,248,059 1,320,787 

 

Table 3. Environmental Performance of Lenovo's Green Supply Chain Implementation 

Indicator/year 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 

Direct energy consumption by source (fuel detail) (Gigajoules) 

Petrol/Diesel (fixed combustion) 5,461 10,321 6,442 9,712 5,058 

Natural gas (fixed combustion) 113,470 94,476 115,375 106,317 77,757 

(LPG) (stationary combustion) 3,087 2,550 1,628 1,454 1,401 

Road Diesel (Mobile Combustion) 948 955 801 626 1,593 

Gasoline (Mobile Combustion) 1,835 1,703 1,112 996 1,492 

(LPG) (Mobile Combustion) 240 188 260 236 112 

(CNG) (Mobile combustion) - - - - - 

Aviation Kerosene (mobile combustion) - 1,064 930 21 952 

Total 125,041 111,257 126,548 119,364 88,364 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

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4.2.3. Social Performance Dimensions 

Table 4. Social Performance of Lenovo's Green Supply Chain Implementation 

Indicator/year 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 

Number of employees 45,754 57,000 63,000 71,500 75,000 

Percentage of employees by gender 

Male 65% 64% 64% 64% 63% 

Female 35% 36% 36% 36% 37% 

Percentage of employee composition by age group 

Below 30 years old - - - 15% 15% 

30-50 years - - - 73% 73% 

Over 50 years old - - - 12% 12% 

Percentage of employees by geography 

Americas (North America, Latin America) 16% 16% 189% 14% 14% 

Asia Pacific (excluding China) 9% 11% 12% 10% 11% 

China 66% 65% 62% 69% 67% 

Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) 8% 8% 8% 7% 8% 

Percentage of Employee Turnover by Gender 

Male - - - 8% 11% 

Female - - - 8% 11% 

Percentage of employee turnover by age group 

Under 30 years old - - - 16% 21% 

30-50 years old - - - 7% 10% 

Over 50 years old - - - 3% 5% 

Average training hours per employee - middle management 

Female - - - 4 9 

Male - - - 5 10 

Average training hours per employee - top management/decision makers 

Female    3 6 

Male - - - 3 6 

Percentage of employees trained - middle management 

Female - - - 4% 4% 

Male - - - 13% 13% 

5. Lenovo Green Supply Chain 
Implementation Optimisation 
Recommendations 

5.1. Emphasis on Developing Employees' 
Awareness of Green Management 

Enterprises should strengthen the cultivation of green 

management concepts for their employees, so that they can 

establish the value concept of green management, focusing on 

strengthening the awareness of cooperation, win-win 

situation and environmental protection, hiring external 

experts with experience in green management, and compiling 

learning and training materials on the concepts of green 

supply chain management and the code of conduct, so as to 

internalise the characteristics, advantages and ideas of green 

supply chain. Meanwhile, a set of system is formulated to 

regulate and guide based on the principle of green supply 

chain management requirements. In the process of shipping 

production and operation, procurement and transportation, we 

should uphold the concepts of saving resources, reducing 

energy consumption and optimising pollutant management, 

not only strengthening green production within the enterprise, 

but also focusing on green management when cooperating 

with suppliers, customers, and partners, jointly achieving 

green goals, agreeing on environmental risks and 

responsibilities, sharing skills, knowledge, and resources, and 

enhancing the industry's green awareness. 

5.2. Improve the Information System of Green 
Supply Chain 

In order to further create better services for consumers, the 

information system of suppliers can be studied and optimised. 

Provide information system interface for each supplier, so that 

all suppliers can directly access the green supply chain 

information system, thus improving the evaluation and 

classification level of suppliers, making suppliers more aware 

of their strategic position and competitiveness in the supply 

chain, so that they can actively meet the company's strategic 

development goals, and enhance the enthusiasm and initiative 

of the supplier's operation. Using the most advanced 

computer technology to improve the powerful green 

enterprise information management platform, green supply 

chain management should also actively introduce artificial 

intelligence technologies such as machine learning, pattern 

recognition and data mining to discover potential valuable 

knowledge in the massive supply chain data, so as to improve 

the level of supply chain management. Therefore, by using AI 

algorithms to parse problems in the supply chain, one is able 

to locate and identify the categories, locations, and suppliers 

of these problems in order to correctly determine the causes 

of the problems and thus optimise the execution process of 

the green supply chain. In addition, we are able to proactively 

identify the greenness implementation level of each supplier, 



 

69 

and use this to improve the greenness management level of 

suppliers, thus realising the efficient operation of the green 

supply chain. 

5.3. Establish Green Management Culture 
System 

The competition between enterprises is the surface of the 

product competition, pursued to a deeper level is actually the 

competition of corporate culture. To enhance the 

competitiveness of enterprises, improve corporate 

performance, we must build a healthy green culture, create a 

harmonious corporate cultural atmosphere, and promote the 

implementation of green management. All employees of the 

enterprise's mental outlook, behaviour, values, mental health 

and living habits, etc. subconsciously affected by the 

enterprise's business activities in the formation of the 

influence of corporate culture. The construction of green 

culture system of shipping enterprises is the premise of the 

implementation of green management, the green values of 

managers will directly affect the company's "green" business 

strategy and "green" business model; the key to the 

construction of corporate culture lies in the implementation of 

the enterprise culture, so the use of The key to the 

construction of corporate culture lies in its implementation, so 

it is necessary to use publicity media, put forward publicity 

slogans, set up publicity boards, and set up corporate culture 

slogans on the uniforms of the employees, so that the 

employees can firstly internalise them in their hearts and 

minds, and most importantly, pay attention to the use of 

environmentally friendly materials and equipment, the use of 

clean energy, and the recycling of wastes in an 

environmentally friendly way, so as to make the idea of green 

supply chain management into a kind of behavioural habit, 

and to form the initiative and habitual habit, and to safeguard 

the performance of the company and the enhancement of the 

competitive ability. The green supply chain management idea 

becomes a behavioural habit, forming initiative and habit to 

guarantee the improvement of enterprise performance and 

competitive ability. 

6. Conclusion 

The representative action of Lenovo Group in practicing 

social responsibility is to actively respond to the "dual-

carbon" goal, strive to achieve green, low-carbon and 

sustainable development, and has been committed to driving 

upstream and downstream partners to jointly promote the 

whole chain of carbon reduction. Any outstanding enterprise, 

in the development of the road is never only product sales or 

lead the industry's scenery, should also actively fulfil social 

responsibility, show the times bear. Enterprises are the 

important main body of economic activities, the popularity of 

green supply chain and the promotion of related policies to 

reshape the value of enterprises, the use of market forces to 

promote the sustainable development of enterprises. 

Enterprises are the important main body to practice the "dual-

carbon" strategy, and the green supply chain is an important 

tool for enterprises to help achieve the "dual-carbon" goal. 

Through the case of Lenovo, this paper finds that the 

implementation of green supply chain has a positive effect on 

the economic value and market value of enterprises, and 

affects the value of enterprises to a certain extent. 

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