More than half of chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) would be willing to sacrifice company profit for the sake of sustainability, according to a recent study from IBM and Celonis.

The study surveyed 500 CSCOs across 10 different industries, and found that leaders are determined to make their supply chains more sustainable and resilient through data and new technologies.

IBM reported that 66% of surveyed CSCOs said sustainability is a core element of business value. And 51% of CSCOs say they would be willing to sacrifice on average 5% of company profits annually to improve sustainability outcomes. That's equivalent to about $22 billion for U.S. Fortune 500 companies.

Circular economy is a common strategy CSCOs pursue to decarbonize supply chains. In the next three years, the survey found 47% are planning to implement full lifecycle design of materials and products to expand reuse of materials and limit waste.

Another 44% plan to increase the energy efficiency of products and services, and 35% plan to "develop new products and services based on renewable energy componentry" in the next three years, IBM reported. In addition, 30% of CSCOs expect to deploy zero-waste products and services.

According to the study, the top three expected benefits of sustainability were "complying with environmental regulation, reducing reputational risk, and driving new innovation areas."

Accurate measurement and reporting on clear and transparent climate targets is necessary to reap those benefits, according to the report. To that point, the survey found 55% of CSCOs expect to incorporate real-time monitoring and reporting on environmental and social sustainability.

"CSCOs know they need to adapt, and in many cases are, but they often don't have the insight they need to truly understand where changes need to be made­—and lack the toolset to drive the change," Janina Nakladal, Celonis global director of sustainability, said in statement.

Reducing inefficiencies in core supply chain processes presents "an enormous opportunity" to lower scope 3 supply chain emissions at scale. "Our research shows that currently-available technology — process mining and hybrid clouds — can give CSCOs this insight to wholly transform their supply chains," Nakladal said.

The study identified actions for CSCOs to develop and operation "data-informed and sustainable supply chains."

The first recommendation is to look at different business models that "amplify resiliency." This might look like deploying artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning for pattern recognition, workflow optimization, and solution gathering. The report also suggests relying on open, secure, hybrid cloud models which should smooth and accelerate extended intelligent workflows.

CSCOs should also "invest consistently in the near- and long-term potential of automation" by developing robust automation and AI tools to aid decision making. "Leverage co-creation, co-execution and cooperation to accelerate idea development," the report recommends.

The report also encourages CSCOs to make sustainability "one of your most important business priorities" by implementing a full range of environmental, social, and governance efforts and mining data across supply chain processes.