Industries strive to prevent ecologically destructive actions in their supply chains. At the same time, the optimization of their resources is a major concern for industries to minimize carbon emissions, boost sustainable practices, and improve a country’s long-term economic development. Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine the impact of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) methods on operational performance with the mediation of technological innovation, in the context of Pakistani manufacturing firms. The partial least square-structural modeling (PLS-SEM) method is adopted in this paper. Data were gathered from 223 different manufacturing firms in Pakistan and then analyzed among these variables. The data show good validity and reliability, and structural model explains 61% of the variance in operational performance and 45.4% of the variance in technical innovation, demonstrating its predictive validity. The R-square criteria classify R-square entities of 0.67, 0.33, and 0.19 as considerable, moderate, and weak, respectively. It is demonstrated that all the f-square values are greater than 0.020 and 0.35, indicating a significant effect on the model’s validity. The findings of this study reveal that GSCM practices have a significantly positive effect on both technological innovation and operational performance. Technological innovation has a direct influence on operational performance and has a partial mediating effect on the relationship between GSCM practices and operational performance. Therefore, this research offers managers insight into the importance of technological innovation and GSCM practice adoption to achieve competitive advantages. It further provides the groundwork for managers, practitioners, and environmental management researchers to emphasize the value of GSCM practice in improving operational performance.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate how green supply chain management (GSCM) practices mediate the effect of Industry 4.0 technologies on operational and green innovation performances.Design/methodology/approach: To explore the study, data were collected from 225 different manufacturing industries in Pakistan. Gathered data were used to test the hypotheses using SmartPLS 3 software by using structural equation modeling.Findings: The findings reveal that operational and green innovation performances are directly affected by the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies and GSCM practices. Furthermore, the GSCM practices positively affect operational and green innovation performances. The study also investigated that the GSCM practices partially mediate the effect of Industry 4.0 on operational and green innovation performances.Research limitations/implications: This study has some limitations, the data of this study were majorly collected from large enterprises of Pakistani firms and related to the manufacturing sector only. So, there is a huge need for attention toward small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Very few researchers are focusing on SMEs, so future research can be on SMEs. It can be suggested that the relationship between digital technologies and green innovation performance can be tested through a quantitative procedure. Moreover, the effect of GSCM's aspects can be estimated on manageable execution.Originality/value: Through the mediating relationship of GSCM practices, this research has made a unique contribution by investigating the influence of Industry 4.0 on operational and green innovation performances. To the author's knowledge, no research has been undertaken in this area.