Current research trend in lean and green supply chain management

Lean Management (LM) is a production philosophy attracting a wider number of industries worldwide. Its purpose is to increase productivity and efficiency and to reduce wastes and muda’s. In parallel, great attention rises toward Green Management (GM) and environmental sustainability, minimising emissions and the carbon footprint of the industrial activities. In the recent years, the scientific community investigates the possibility of joining lean and green best practices. Starting from a review of contributions on the integration of LM and GM, this work outlines the current research trend existing in the field, taking into account the ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 guidelines, as well as the recent EU regulations, directives, recommendations and opinions. A two-step methodology is followed. The former step identifies the topics and targets; the latter step builds a spider diagram highlighting the existing connections and research streams. Evidences show win-win synergies from the implementation of lean-green practices. LM has positive effects on green practices, while GM can improve waste cut off and the process quality.