Sustainable supply chain management: Merle Schernus – the path of copper

In the middle of her master's degree, Merle Schernus decided to take a break. ‘I found myself asking more and more why my business studies programme taught extensively about investment theories with risk and return, but never touched on the idea that behind the investments are real projects with an impact on people and the environment,’ she recalls. The young woman went to Chile for a year and volunteered at a street dog initiative. The experience permanently changed her view of the financial world: ‘Under the Pinochet government, Chile had become a testing ground for neoliberalism,’ she explains. Merle Schernus reports on a divided country. During her stay, public services went on strike: ‘In the slums, it stank of rotting garbage; the rich afforded private waste removal. Healthcare also collapsed: Those who had money went to a private clinic, the poor couldn't find a doctor,’ recalls Merle Schernus.

Back in Germany, she decided to complete her studies – and to make a difference. Today, she works in auditing and consulting, reviewing companies' sustainability reports. In 2023, she studied part-time for the university certificate in “Sustainable Supply Chain Management”, which the Centre for Sustainability Management (CSM) at Leuphana offers as part of the Leuphana Professional School's continuing education programme. Among other things, students deal with sustainable entrepreneurship, supply chain management and human rights. Based on national and international standards such as the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG) and the EU Supply Chain Directive (CSDDD), students gain a comprehensive overview of the due diligence obligations for their own company. The core of the certificate is a study-accompanying transfer project. Merle Schernus focused on the path of copper: ‘Chile is one of the most important copper suppliers worldwide,’ explains Merle Schernus. The raw material is used in computers, for example, but also in solar modules.

Merle Schernus looked at the value chain of a laptop and counted well over a hundred links: at the beginning is the female worker in the copper mine, at the end a young man who tries to burn copper out of the scrapped laptop at the world's largest landfill site in Ghana – without a protective mask. ‘I also looked at where human rights are violated and how companies can improve the circumstances,’ reports the graduate.

She was able to discuss her research results in the seminars at the Leuphana Professional School: ‘The experts were excellent. For example, we had a lawyer who specialised in human rights. I also found the exchange between the different participants exciting. Many different industries came together. The certificate helps me to classify, structure and solve sustainability problems,’ summarises Merle Schernus.

The certificate in sustainable supply chain management is one of five certificates developed by the Centre for Sustainability Management (CSM) on current fields of action in corporate sustainability management – for example, decarbonisation, circular economy and sustainability reporting. The aim: to provide students with scientifically sound knowledge and tools for a future-oriented field of sustainable management within six months.