"The Era of Sustainability: Transforming Logistics for a Green Future"
In recent years, caring for the environment has become an important concern for society. This quest to improve our environmental footprint, with the aim of achieving sustainable economic growth, applies in particular to the logistics sector.
More and more companies are trying to combat this growing concern by reducing the environmental impact of their supply chain. However, these changes often present companies with a challenge: How can I be more environmentally friendly without affecting my business?
Green Logistics: definition and challenges
It involves considering a company's environmental footprint when organizing its logistics. It applies to the entire supply chain and its objective is to reduce the company's impact on the environment, without affecting its economic activity.
This is achieved through more or less substantial changes in a company's logistics activity, whether through the choice of suppliers, infrastructure, optimization of storage space or automation. There is a wide variety of solutions to combine efficient logistics and sustainable development.
Although its implementation involves changes in the company's operation and, therefore, expenses of time and money, these changes can be very beneficial for the company.
What are the advantages of green logistics?
It can be positive for companies for several reasons:
- Pollution reduction: The main benefit of green logistics is the reduction of pollution generated by the company. This benefits not only the company itself, but also society as a whole given the current environmental situation.
- Reduction of transportation costs: Green logistics helps reduce the distance and number of freight transportation operations, especially those that use combustion vehicles, which emit greenhouse gases that are harmful to the environment.
- Cost reduction packaging: Green logistics involves the use of biodegradable or reusable packaging materials. Although more expensive to purchase than single-use materials and components, recyclable materials can save companies money in the long run. This includes: cardboard instead of wooden pallets, reusable plastic film, etc. Packaging accounts for almost half of global plastic pollution, and the majority of this material is never recycled.
- Image improvement: Green logistics allows companies to adopt an eco-responsible approach, which is particularly beneficial for their image. Whether in the eyes of suppliers, customers or stakeholders in general, the company's “eco-responsible” reputation is an asset worth exploiting.
- Loss reduction: It also reduces losses of goods or raw materials from the warehouse.
- Warehouse automation: Green logistics also involves warehouse automation. The implementation of automated processes helps increase a company's logistics efficiency and save time and money. For example, installing a perpetual inventory management system with WMS software helps reduce losses caused by merchandise that has reached its expiration date. Installing a warehouse 4.0 (automated warehouse) is therefore a win-win situation.
Now that we have discussed some of the many advantages of green logistics, we will look at how to put them into practice.
How can efficient green logistics be implemented?
Green logistics affects a company's entire supply chain. This applies both inside and outside the warehouse.
Green logistics within the store
Green logistics involves optimizing warehouse storage space. This allows the company to reduce the number of movements of handling machinery and avoid unnecessary operations, which in turn reduces the pollution generated. It also makes the work of operators easier and increases the storage capacity of the warehouse.
Optimizing storage space also reduces the area that must be kept at a certain temperature, for companies that store temperature controlled storage, and reduces air conditioning pollution and operating costs. Discover our AR Mobile storage solution, which optimizes your warehouse storage space thanks to sliding shelving mounted on rails, very useful in temperature-controlled areas.
Green logistics outside the warehouse
Green logistics is also implemented outside the warehouse, with the creation of a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) policy.
This indicates that the company applies certain social and environmental requirements and may involve choosing suppliers who agree to comply with an environmental charter prepared by the company. This letter may require that the raw materials be of organic origin, that the packaging is made with biodegradable materials or that the supplier has certain environmental labels or certifications, such as the European Ecolabel or the ISO 14000 standard.
Reducing the distances traveled during transportation is also a way of applying green logistics
By favoring local suppliers, the company reduces greenhouse gas emissions caused by transporting goods to its warehouse. The company can also guarantee complete optimization of the loading of the means of transport used, in order to limit the number of empty spaces and thus reduce the number of trips.
Therefore, it seems that there are many solutions to implement green logistics. But,
what about future solutions? What is the future of green logistics?
There are several possible answers here…
It seems undeniable that the future of green logistics depends on supply chain automation, a trend that has been widely observed in recent years.
It is likely that logistics 4.0 will continue to develop, with the use of artificial intelligence, digitalization of information and robotization.
All these automated solutions promote green logistics by limiting the use of polluting energy. Therefore, green logistics, already established today, is likely to continue to develop further in the future with the development of logistics 4.0 and the current environmental situation.