Green Logistics: Improving the Environmental Sustainability of Logistics

Table of Contents

Contributor biographies ix

Part 1 Assessing The Environmental Effects of Logistics 1

1 Environmental sustainability: a new priority for logistics managers Alan McKinnon 3

Introduction 3

A brief history of green logistics research 5

Green logistics: rhetoric and reality 17

A model for green logistics research 19

Outline of the book 22

Notes 25

References 25

2 Assessing the environmental impacts of freight transport Sharon Cullinane Julia Edwards 31

Introduction 31

Environmental impacts 32

Environmental standards 39

measuring the environmental impact of freight transport 42

Notes 45

References 45

3 Carbon auditing of companies, supply chains and products Maja Piecyk 49

Introduction 49

Guidelines for carbon footprinting 50

The carbon footprinting process 51

Success factors in carbon footprinting 59

Case study: carbon auditing of road freight transport operations in the UK 60

Conclusions 65

References 66

4 Evaluating and internalizing the environmental costs of logistics Maja Piecyk Alan McKinnon Julian Allen 68

Introduction 68

Arguments for and against the internalization of environmental costs 69

Monetary valuation of environmental costs 72

Internalization of the external costs imposed by road freight vehicles in the UK 79

Conclusions 93

Notes 95

References 95

Part 2 Strategic Perspective 99

5 Restructuring of logistics systems and supply chains Irina Harris Vasco Sanchez Rodrigues Mo Naim Christine Mumford 101

Introduction 101

Current state of knowledge of traditional supply chains 102

Green supply chains 111

Gaps in our understanding and priorities for research 116

Consequences and conclusions 119

References 120

6 Transferring freight to 'greener' transport modes Allan Woodburn Anthony Whiteing 124

Background 124

Characteristics of the main freight transport modes 126

Environmental impacts of the main freight transport modes 129

Case study: container train load factors 130

The policy framework 131

Examples of measures aimed at achieving modal shift for environmental benefit 133

Rail and water industries 135

Conclusions 138

References 139

7 Development of greener vehicles, aircraft and ships Alan McKinnon Julian Allen Allan Woodburn 140

Introduction 140

Road freight 141

Rail freight operations 150

Air freight 153

Shipping 157

Conclusions 162

Notes 162

References 163

8 Reducing the environmental impact of warehousing Clive Marchant 167

Introduction 167

Scale of the environmental impact 168

Increasing resource intensity 171

Framework for assessing the environmental impact of warehouses 173

Ways of reducing the environmental impact 173

Conclusion 189

References 190

Part 3 Operational Perspective 193

9 Opportunities for improving vehicle utilization Alan McKinnon Julia Edwards 195

Introduction 195

Measuring vehicle utilization 196

Factors affecting the utilization of truck capacity 199

Conclusion 210

Note 210

References 210

10 Optimizing the routing of vehicles Richard Eglese Dan Black 215

Introduction 215

Vehicle routing problems 216

Types of problem 217

Environmental impact 221

Conclusions 224

References 225

11 Increasing fuel efficiency in the road freight sector Alan McKinnon 229

Introduction 229

Fuel efficiency of new trucks 230

Vehicle design: aerodynamic profiling 231

Reducing the vehicle tare weight 232

Vehicle purchase decision 233

Vehicle maintenance 234

Increasing the fuel efficiency of trucking operations 235

Benchmarking the fuel efficiency of trucks 237

More fuel-efficient driving 238

Fleet management 239

Conclusions 240

References 240

12 Reverse logistics for the management of waste Tom Cherrett Sarah Maynard Fraser McLeod Adrian Hickford 242

Introduction 242

Waste management in the context of reverse logistics 243

The impact of waste treatment legislation 246

Reuse, refurbishment markets and take-back schemes 250

Managing waste as part of a sustainable reverse process 253

Conclusions 256

References 259

Part 4 Key issues 263

13 The food miles debate Tara Garnett 265

Introduction 265

Transport and GHGs: is further worse? 266

Transport, the second order impacts and the implications for GHGs 272

Local versus global and the self-sufficiency question 274

Notes 277

References 277

14 Sustainability strategies for city logistics Julian Allen Michael Browne 282

Introduction 282

Urban freight research and policy making 283

Efficiency problems in urban freight transport 285

Urban freight transport initiatives 288

urban consolidation centres 290

Joint working between the public and private sectors 294

Environmental zones 296

Conclusions 301

References 302

15 Benefits and costs of switching to alternative fuels Sharon Cullinane Julia Edwards 306

Introduction 306

The main types of alternative fuels 307

Current use of AFs in the freight industry 316

The future 318

Notes 318

References 319

16 E-business, e-logistics and the environment Julia Edwards Yingli Wang Andrew Potter Sharon Cullinane 322

Introduction 322

Business-to-business (B2B) 323

Business-to-consumer (B2C) 327

Restructuring of the supply chain 330

the environmental impact of e-commerce 330

Case study: online book supply chain 333

The future 335

References 335

Part 5 Public policy perspective 339

17 The role of government in promoting green logistics Alan McKinnon 341

Introduction 341

Objectives of public policy on sustainable logistics 344

Policy measures 344

Reducing freight transport intensity 347

Shifting freight to greener transport modes 349

Improving vehicle utilization 351

Increasing energy efficiency 353

cutting emissions relative to energy use 355

Government-sponsored advisory and accreditation programmes 356

Conclusion 357

Note 358

References 358

Index 361