In a competitive market, organizations expand their supply chain on a global scale. Pressure from customers, stakeholders, legislation and environmental organizations have pushed companies to be more considerate of the environmental impacts of their supply chain. This development has put focus on sustainability within supply chains, leading to the rise of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM). The purpose of this research is to create a conceptual model to present the vastly varied literature within the area of GSCM in a structured way, in order to promote environmental and in turn, overall supply chain performance. The research methodology includes a literature review using 125 peer-reviewed journal articles from 2013 to 2016 published in 19 journals. Out of the 125, 10 journalarticles were selected based on their focus in regard to the subject. The articles were chosen to attain a vantage point in view of critical factors within environmentally sustainable supply chains with a focus on optimizing performance. This paper contributes to theory by presenting a conceptual model for optimizing performance in green supply chains. Drivers, which promote Green Supply Chain (GSC) are classified as re-active and pro-active, and the main methods used for optimizing performance are concluded to be collaboration, metrics to monitor performance and practices such as green purchasing, ecodesign, reverse logistics and legislation. The review may be of use to both academics and companies as it outlines proven ways to implement green supply chain with high performance.