Green logistics aims to minimize the environmental impacts of logistics activities through measures like consolidating shipments, improving fuel efficiency, and recycling packaging materials. It involves green practices for transportation like using cleaner vehicles and rail transport, for warehousing like renewable energy and recycling, and for value-added services like pallet pooling and tracking technologies. Walmart's former CEO Lee Scott launched a major sustainability initiative with goals of being fully renewable, generating zero waste, and selling only sustainable products.
2. Introduction:
Green logistics describes all attempts to measure and
minimize the ecological impacts of logistics activities.
The focus of green logistics would be to provide quality goods at lower
costs with the environmentally friendly aspect attached to it.
Examples of green logistics in the business can be: shipping
products altogether rather than in batches or it could even be recycling
and reusing a product.
3. Characteristics and Scope:
Green logistics is considered compatible and beneficial to the
environment.
It helps in an environmentally friendly and efficient transport
and distribution system.
It helps in material handling, waste management, packaging
and transport.
It is related to the eco-efficient management of flow of
product and information between the point of origin and the
point of consumption
4. Environmental problems caused by logistics:
162 billion tons of truck emissions in Europe
Availability and price of fuel
253 million tons of packaging is used annually in the consumer industry
(half paper and half plastic)
Production of paper requires 7 million trees to be felled.
The aerodynamic drag is responsible for 40% of the fuel consumption of
heavy duty trucks at motorway speed.
5. Benefits :
• Improved customer satisfaction
• Reduces emissions and waste
• Higher productivity through higher motivation of the employees
• Job opportunities
• Reduced environmental impact (e.g. CO2-emissions, noise levels)
• Better utilization of natural resources (e.g. fuel, packaging)
6. Green logistics can be seen in:
1. Transportation
2. Warehousing
3. Value added services
7. Transportation
Transportation is a logistics activity with a high impact on the
environment. Most green logistics activities in transportation
generate cost reductions.
The main green practices in transportation are :
Clean vehicles/fuel efficiency
Modal choice (rail versus truck)
Reconditioning and reuse of pallets and containers
Freight consolidation
Load optimization
8. Warehousing
Today’s warehouses often have eco-friendly features such as solar walls,
on-site recycling, or Heat- reducing power plants that reduce the global
impact of their operations.
The main green practices found in warehousing are :
Clean material handling equipment/fuel and energy efficiency
Reconditioning and reuse of pallets and containers
Automatic warehousing systems (AWS)
Minimization of inventories
On-site recycling
Product disposition
9. Value Added Services
Value added services are the third type of operations considered within
this analysis. Since outsourcing is currently still one of the main trends in
logistics, several value added services have evolved to meet the logistical
needs of companies.
The main green practices found are :
Pallet and container pooling
Packaging technologies
Tracking and tracing
10. “Wal-Mart’s “Green” Supply Chain
Management by Adam Heying and Whitney
Sanzero
• Lee Scott who took control of Wal-Mart in 2000
wanted Wal-Mart to have a more economically
friendly: “Green” logistics.
• Lee Scott laid out three very ambitious goals in
which he vowed Wal-Mart would:
Be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy in
the very near future
Create zero waste
Sell products that sustain Wal-Mart’s resources
and the environment
11. Conclusion:
According to the 2009 Wal-Mart Sustainability Report, Lee Scott was
quoted as saying,
“The facet is sustainability at Wal-Mart isn’t a stand-alone issue that’s
separate from or unrelated to our business. It’s not an abstract or
philanthropic program. We don’t even see it as corporate social
responsibility. Sustainability is built into our business. It’s completely
aligned with our model, our mission and our culture.”