Green logistics describes all attempts to measure and minimize the ecological impact of logistics activities. This includes all activities of the forward and reverse flows of products, information and services between the point of origin and the point of consumption. It is the aim to create a sustainable company value using a balance of economic and environmental efficiency. Green logistics has its origin in the mid-1980s and was a concept to characterize logistics systems and approaches that use advanced technology and equipment to minimize environmental damage during operations.[1]
Organizations have to face changes in the coming years.
In addition to increasing diversity and dynamics, environmental issues become more important. Social, political and economic demands for sustainable development force organizations to reduce the effect on the environment of their supply chains and to develop sustainable transport and supply chain strategies.[2]
There are strong interactions between logistics, environment and natural resources. In addition, the approach of logistics is interdisciplinary, holistic and cross-company.[3] Realising environmental objectives can be done in synergy with other strategic and financial goals. This is the basis of the great potential of this new logistics problem and challenge.[4]
Ecological concern
The "ecological concern" in logistics determines how far the logistics or the supply chain of a company is faced with the issue of environmental protection and resource conservation. Basically, a supply chain is affected by various influencing factors in this context. The main influencing factors are the stakeholders of the organization and the rising costs of energy and commodity.[5]
Some of the key stakeholders in this context are:
The state with growing international and national regulations
Customers and consumer with increasing awareness and demand for environmentally friendly products and (logistics) services
Employees who want to work in an environmentally and socially responsible company
Companies themselves, dealing with their own motivation
There is also the pressure of lenders, investors, insurers and investors. Indications of this are new forms of investment in the capital market, such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, that tracks the stock performance of the world's leading companies in terms of economic, environmental and social criteria.[6]
The dimension of ecological concern of a company is the product of these complex and varying factors.
Approaches
Logistics has a whole range of measures to protect the environment and resources. Some are new, others long-known. These actions can be assigned to different levels– maturity, range, scope, capital expenditure and resource requirements.
Corresponding to the holistic approach of green logistics, logistics has five starting points to implement measures for environmental protection and resource conservation:
Formation of corporate networks, which are connected by logistics service
Optimizing physical logistics processes by providing a sophisticated IT support
The first four levels form a hierarchy and influence each other sequentially. Decisions on one level define the scope for further decisions on the following levels. Decisions at higher levels reduce the freedom for the following levels. Example: The determination of the packing mass of a product on the Level one defines the volume and weight of a product and therefore the maximum number of items per carrier (e.g., container). Thus, the decision made on level one influences the maximum capacity of a container. The effects on the environment,– measured as carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions per transported product– therefore, are strongly influenced by the decisions made on level one. Decisions made on levels two and three, such as route optimization, also affect carbon-dioxide emissions.[8]
Challenges
While many countries and companies hope to reduce the damage to the environment by evaluating their operations around logistics, companies struggle to trace and track all parts of their supply chain to note where logistics could become more green.[9]
Many companies see tension between increased sales and increased emissions, and maximizing profit does not coincide with environmentally-friendly practices.[9]
In addition, the cost of green logistics can be high. For example, ammonia is 3-7 times more expensive than traditional marine fuels.[10]
Solutions
Because retailers have many suppliers, it is difficult to calculate all carbon emissions. However, retailers will reward suppliers who work hard to reduce carbon emissions. Therefore, suppliers will work hard for these labels.[9]
Many companies are developing plans to use green ammonia to replace the fuel used by today's cargo ships.[10]
See also
Reverse logistics– All operations related to the reuse of products and materials
EcoTransIT – Calculation of energy consumption and emission data for freight transports
GreenRouter – Calculation of energy consumption and emission data for freight transports
Green Logistics – A research programme examining a range of ways of reducing environmental impact, many of which will also cut the cost of distribution. Funded by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) and supported by the Department for Transport and Transport for London
Related Research Articles
In commerce, supply chain management (SCM) deals with a system of procurement, operations management, logistics and marketing channels, through which raw materials can be developed into finished products and delivered to their end customers. A more narrow definition of supply chain management is the "design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply chain activities with the objective of creating net value, building a competitive infrastructure, leveraging worldwide logistics, synchronising supply with demand and measuring performance globally". This can include the movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, finished goods, and end to end order fulfilment from the point of origin to the point of consumption. Interconnected, interrelated or interlinked networks, channels and node businesses combine in the provision of products and services required by end customers in a supply chain.
Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the point of consumption according to the needs of customers. Logistics management is a component that holds the supply chain together. The resources managed in logistics may include tangible goods such as materials, equipment, and supplies, as well as food and other consumable items.
I = (PAT) is the mathematical notation of a formula put forward to describe the impact of human activity on the environment.
A sustainable business, or a green business, is an enterprise that has a minimal negative impact or potentially a positive effect on the global or local environment, community, society, or economy—a business that strives to meet the triple bottom line. They cluster under different groupings and the whole is sometimes referred to as "green capitalism." Often, sustainable businesses have progressive environmental and human rights policies. In general, a business is described as green if it matches the following four criteria:
It incorporates principles of sustainability into each of its business decisions.
It supplies environmentally friendly products or services that replace demand for nongreen products and/or services.
It is greener than traditional competition.
It has made an enduring commitment to environmental principles in its business operations.
A carbon footprint (or greenhouse gas footprint) is a calculated value or index that makes it possible to compare the total amount of greenhouse gases that an activity, product, company or country adds to the atmosphere. Carbon footprints are usually reported in tonnes of emissions (CO2-equivalent) per unit of comparison. Such units can be for example tonnes CO2-eq per year, per kilogram of protein for consumption, per kilometer travelled, per piece of clothing and so forth. A product's carbon footprint includes the emissions for the entire life cycle. These run from the production along the supply chain to its final consumption and disposal.
Food miles is the distance food is transported from the time of its making until it reaches the consumer. Food miles are one factor used when testing the environmental impact of food, such as the carbon footprint of the food.
Waste minimisation is a set of processes and practices intended to reduce the amount of waste produced. By reducing or eliminating the generation of harmful and persistent wastes, waste minimisation supports efforts to promote a more sustainable society. Waste minimisation involves redesigning products and processes and/or changing societal patterns of consumption and production.
Sustainable procurement or green procurement is a process whereby organizations meet their needs for goods, services, works and utilities in a way that achieves value for money on a life-cycle basis while addressing equity principles for sustainable development, therefore benefiting societies and the environment across time and geographies. Procurement is often conducted via a tendering or competitive bidding process. The process is used to ensure the buyer receives goods, services or works for the best possible price, when aspects such as quality, quantity, time, and location are compared. Procurement is considered sustainable when organizations broadens this framework by meeting their needs for goods, services, works, and utilities in a way that achieves value for money and promotes positive outcomes not only for the organization itself but for the economy, environment, and society. This framework is also known as the triple bottom line, which is a business accounting framework. The concept of TBL is narrowly prescribed, and even John Elkington, who coined the term in the 1990s, now advocates its recall. Indeed, procurement practitioners have drawn attention to the fact that buying from smaller firms, locally, is an important aspect of sustainable procurement in the public sector. Ethics, culture, safety, diversity, inclusion, justice, human rights and the environment are additionally listed as important aspects of SPP.
A green-collar worker is a worker who is employed in an environmental sector of the economy. Environmental green-collar workers satisfy the demand for green development. Generally, they implement environmentally conscious design, policy, and technology to improve conservation and sustainability. Formal environmental regulations as well as informal social expectations are pushing many firms to seek professionals with expertise with environmental, energy efficiency, and clean renewable energy issues. They often seek to make their output more sustainable, and thus more favorable to public opinion, governmental regulation, and the Earth's ecology.
This is a glossary of environmental science.
Sustainable packaging is the development and use of packaging which results in improved sustainability. This involves increased use of life cycle inventory (LCI) and life cycle assessment (LCA) to help guide the use of packaging which reduces the environmental impact and ecological footprint. It includes a look at the whole of the supply chain: from basic function, to marketing, and then through to end of life (LCA) and rebirth. Additionally, an eco-cost to value ratio can be useful The goals are to improve the long term viability and quality of life for humans and the longevity of natural ecosystems. Sustainable packaging must meet the functional and economic needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainability is not necessarily an end state but is a continuing process of improvement.
Sustainable consumption is the use of products and services in ways that minimizes impacts on the environment. Sustainable consumption is done in a way that needs are met for present humans but also for future generations. Sustainable consumption is often paralleled with sustainable production; consumption refers to use and disposal not just by individuals and households, but also by governments, businesses, and other organizations. Sustainable consumption is closely related to sustainable production and sustainable lifestyles. "A sustainable lifestyle minimizes ecological impacts while enabling a flourishing life for individuals, households, communities, and beyond. It is the product of individual and collective decisions about aspirations and about satisfying needs and adopting practices, which are in turn conditioned, facilitated, and constrained by societal norms, political institutions, public policies, infrastructures, markets, and culture."
Supply-chain sustainability is the impact a company’s supply chain can make in promoting human rights, fair labor practices, environmental progress and anti-corruption policies. There is a growing need for integrating sustainable choices into supply-chain management. An increasing concern for sustainability is transforming how companies approach business. Whether motivated by their customers, corporate values or business opportunity, traditional priorities such as quality, efficiency and cost regularly compete for attention with concerns such as working conditions and environmental impact. A sustainable supply chain seizes value chain opportunities and offers significant competitive advantages for early adopters and process innovators.
Micro-sustainability is the portion of sustainability centered around small scale environmental measures that ultimately affect the environment through a larger cumulative impact. Micro-sustainability centers on individual efforts, behavior modification, education and creating attitudinal changes, which result in an environmentally conscious individual. Micro-sustainability encourages sustainable changes through "change agents"—individuals who foster positive environmental action locally and inside their sphere of influence. Examples of micro-sustainability include recycling, power saving by turning off unused lights, programming thermostats for efficient use of energy, reducing water usage, changing commuting habits to use less fossil fuels or modifying buying habits to reduce consumption and waste. The emphasis of micro-sustainability is on an individual's actions, rather than organizational or institutional practices at the systemic level. These small local level actions have immediate community benefits if undertaken on a widespread scale and if imitated, they can have a cumulative broad impact.
Environmentally sustainable design is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability and also aimed at improving the health and comfort of occupants in a building. Sustainable design seeks to reduce negative impacts on the environment, the health and well-being of building occupants, thereby improving building performance. The basic objectives of sustainability are to reduce the consumption of non-renewable resources, minimize waste, and create healthy, productive environments.
Sustainable distribution refers to any means of transportation / hauling of goods between vendor and purchaser with lowest possible impact on the ecological and social environment, and includes the whole distribution process from storage, order processing and picking, packaging, improved vehicle loadings, delivery to the customer or purchaser and taking back packaging.
Choice editing refers to the active process of controlling or limiting the choices available to consumers so as to drive to an end goal, specifically by banning things or imposing punitive taxation. The term has gained currency in discussions about sustainability.
Environmental certification is a form of environmental regulation and development where a company can voluntarily choose to comply with predefined processes or objectives set forth by the certification service. Most certification services have a logo which can be applied to products certified under their standards. This is seen as a form of corporate social responsibility allowing companies to address their obligation to minimise the harmful impacts to the environment by voluntarily following a set of externally set and measured objectives.
Resource efficiency is the maximising of the supply of money, materials, staff, and other assets that can be drawn on by a person or organization in order to function effectively, with minimum wasted (natural) resource expenses. It means using the Earth's limited resources in a sustainable manner while minimising environmental impact.
In commerce, global supply-chain management is defined as the distribution of goods and services throughout a trans-national companies' global network to maximize profit and minimize waste. Essentially, global supply chain-management is the same as supply-chain management, but it focuses on companies and organizations that are trans-national.
References
↑ Thiell, M., Zuluaga, J., Montanez, J., van Hoof, B.: Green Logistics – Global Practices and their Implementation in Emerging Markets, p. 2, Colombia 2011.
↑ "Green Logistics". greenlogisticsconsultants.com. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
↑ Straube, F., Cetinkaya, B: Umwelt und Logistik, pp. 62–81 in Straube, F.; Pfohl, H.-Chr.: Trends und Strategien in der Logistik – Globale Netzwerke im Wandel, Deutscher Verkehrs-Verlag, Bremen 2008, ISBN978-3-87154-388-3.
DONATO. V. Logística Verde: uma abordagem Socioambiental. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Ciência Moderna. 2008. ISBN978-85-739-3705-3.
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