Abstract
Green logistics entails using sustainable and eco-friendly processes to reduce environmental impacts on logistics. The paper aims to analyze green logistics and its impacts on the future of transportation and logistics management. Previous studies show that the rise of freight has resulted in significant environmental pollution. The studies have shown that the basic ideas behind green logistics are using advancement and technology to operate in a sustainable trade-off that becomes environmentally and economically efficient. Green logistics can help the world recover by initiating fewer pollution initiatives in the transportation industry. Green logistics, however, has its pros and cons. The advantages of green logistics and how they significantly reduce environmental pollution are identified. The downsides of going green will be internalized, focusing on the challenging aspects of embracing going green. The problem will be critically assessed, and solutions provided to the problem.
Introduction
Green logistics encompasses any practice that targets making operations more sustainable. It builds upon the foundations of traditional logistics that focus on operations without considering the environment. Green logistics aims to improve processes and the organization’s sustainability. Green logistics has efforts on green transport, green packaging, green warehousing, and green logistic data collection and management (Vienažindienė et al., 2021). Green logistics targets improving and enhancing the sustainability of the environment. Companies can develop green logistics to analyze internal and external operations concerning improvements they need in a step-by-step process. Logistics management entails finding lowers cost methods to move goods through the supply chain. Transportation makes up more than half of all supply chain operating costs. Optimization of the transport network tends to be significant in saving costs. The ‘greener’ the supply chain management, the more likely the business will save money and become more ecologically and economically sustainable (Vienažindienė et al., 2021). These aspects make the brand more attractive to environmentally conscious consumers.
This paper will analyze green logistics that have resulted in inspiration initiatives received, implemented, managed, and followed through for the significance of conservation that works toward a friendlier environment. Organizations have reduced waste and implemented methodologies and strategies that elevate their productivity. The organizations have also managed to use techniques and tools to solve challenges to improve businesses’ and customers’ welfare (Sun et al., 2021). The paper will provide a literature review on the green logistics topic using peer-reviewed sources. Ideas on the topic will be discussed, the problem will be assessed, and possible solutions to the problem will be provided.
Literature Review Background Research on the Topic
A preliminary literature review has shown that previous studies have been conducted on the concepts of green logistics and its impacts on transport. According to Sun et al. (2021), green logistics is not a new concept because its analogies go back to the 1970s when there was a pivot of change in world history, including ecological awareness. Heavy trucks appeared in the 1970s, and the first concerns around pollution resulted from freight growth (Sun et al., 2021). After this time, the term ‘green’ began to be used, which referred to a challenge in the transport industry. A study by Dev et al. (2020) shows that logistics was one of the main challenges addressed by the development report in 1987 and the world commission on the Environment. The basic ideas behind green logistics were to use advancement and technology to operate in a sustainable trade-off that becomes environmentally and economically efficient.
According to Wang et al. (2018), the pillars of green logistics include planning, impact tracking, and supporting technology. Planning entails ensuring a way to optimize planning to maximize fleet utilization and minimize resource consumption. Impact tracking entailed setting up a control tower to track the fleet’s carbon footprint in time and space. Supporting technology optimizes the physical logistic process by providing needed information technology support. Over the years, transportation has significantly impacted the environment (Wang et al., 2018). Transportation has resulted in greenhouse gas emissions, degradation of air quality, and an increase in the threat of global climate change and the declination of water sources. Transportation has increased the levels of released pollutants, contributing to particulate matter, ozone, and nitrogen dioxide concentrations, affecting people, animals, and plants.
Various factors resulted in the rise of an eco-friendly market, including pressure from environmental-conscious consumers and pressure from cost and regulators. Global warming has been rising, resulting in environmental changes affecting the universe’s functioning. Prices of natural gases and oils have risen, and accidents such as nuclear disasters, oil spills, and continued deforestation have increased. According to Lukman et al. (2021), green logistics is a solution to this challenge as it can harness the power of wind and solar energy. The primary purpose of green logistics is to have cleaner energy that will not harm the environment or at least be less harmful. Greenhouse logistics aims to implement more sustainable operations to lower emissions and reduce environmental pollution.
Ideas on the Topic and Problem
This part of the paper will discuss pollution from a global perspective giving examples of air quality in major cities and other aspects, such as water pollution. The section includes how green logistics can assist in introducing less pollution, how it will help the earth recover, and how it can catch up with the cleanup. Health benefits will be established by working with green organizations. Individuals exposed to toxins and chemicals because of working in such factories or plants do not have a good health system. The advantages of working in green organizations, such as cost-cutting and money-saving in the long run, will be analyzed. The government also imposes green initiatives that may give tax credits and grants to organizations that go green (Lukman et al., 2021). The consumer’s value in an organization’s eyes will be discussed, where the company can open an opportunity for more profit gains.
The paper will then expand on how an organization can sustain the logistics and how going green can outlast competitors who do not use green. The research additionally dives into the cons of green logistics. Going green is not an easy process as it cannot happen overnight; there must be significant challenges as the change progresses. Organizations that want to go green need to be aware of the many factors that need to be accounted for, such as the impact it has on the people in the environmental effects on the workforce will consequently be addressed.
New Solutions to the Problem
Prevention is better than reaction and has been imperative in solution finding for filling voids in complex challenges. The main question is who will benefit the business, the value stream, and the customers. This part of the paper will review the best solution to resolve this problem. Implementing the process of going into the manager role in the expectation that they will provide guidance and knowledge will be constraining (Vienažindienė et al., 2021). In solving the challenge, upper management needs to be aware of the changes, additional guidance that can sustain the implementation, and different actions that combine practices will be identified. Reconstructing the road freight networks will be discussed by analyzing the traditional and train network designs (Vienažindienė et al., 2021). The paper will introduce many of the technical advancements that have affected freight and will look at them, the changes brought about by these technologies in the modes of transport, and the effect they have on the environment. The paper will examine the government’s roles and public policies for sustainable logistics in the different ways the government aims to reduce transportation and logistics’ environmental impact.
Conclusion
This section will restate the paper’s thesis and summarize what the research has found in answering the thesis statement. Global warming has been a real challenge in the present world, and if organizations do not change their operations, logistics, and transportation, the results will be disastrous. Everyone is responsible for protecting the environment from pollution and ensuring the lesson learned is passed down to the next generation. The major goals of green logistics are coordinating activities to deliver customers’ needs and want with the minimum cost required. The rise in environmental concerns requires companies to take more accountability for their external cost of logistics associated costs. This aspect is mainly based on factors such as air pollution, noise, climate change, and vibration in accidents. This analysis examines ways of reducing waste through green logistics with the implementation of various objectives established to achieve a more sustainable balance between environmental economics and social goals.
References
Dev, N. K., Shankar, R., & Swami, S. (2020). Diffusion of green products in industry 4.0: Reverse logistics issues during design of inventory and production planning system. International Journal of Production Economics, 223, 107519.
Lukman, R. K., Omahne, V., Sheikh, L. T. E., & Glavič, P. (2021). Integrating sustainability into logistics oriented education in Europe. Sustainability, 13(4), 1667.
Saada, R. (2020). Green Transportation in Green Supply Chain Management. In Green Supply Chain-Competitiveness and Sustainability. IntechOpen.
Sun, L., Zhang, T., Liu, S., Wang, K., Rogers, T., Yao, L., & Zhao, P. (2021). Reducing energy consumption and pollution in the urban transportation sector: A review of policies and regulations in Beijing. Journal of Cleaner Production, 285, 125339. Web.
Vienažindienė, M., Tamulienė, V., & Zaleckienė, J. (2021). Green logistics practices seeking development of sustainability: Evidence from Lithuanian transportation and logistics Companies. Energies, 14(22), 7500. Web.
Wang, L., Xue, X., Zhao, Z., & Wang, Z. (2018). The impacts of transportation infrastructure on sustainable development: Emerging trends and challenges. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(6), 1172. Web.