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International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 40 No. 1/2, 2010, pp. 42-60.
Abstract
Purpose - Interest in product-level carbon auditing and labelling has been growing in both business and government circles. The purpose of this paper is to examine the practical problems and costs associated with highly disaggregated analyses of greenhouse gas emissions from supply chains. It then weighs these problems and costs against the potential benefits of the carbon labelling of products.
Design/methodology/approach - The views expressed in this paper are based on a review of relevant literature, informal discussions with senior managers and personal experience with the practices being investigated.
Findings - Stock-keeping unit-level carbon auditing of supply chains and the related carbon labelling of products will be fraught with difficulty and very costly. While simplification of the auditing process, the use of data inventories and software support may assist these processes, the
practicality of applying them to all consumer products seems very doubtful. The resulting benefits to companies and consumers are also highly questionable. The main conclusion, therefore, is that
product-level carbon auditing and labelling is a "wasteful distraction" and that it would be better to devote management time and resources to other decarbonisation initiatives.
Research limitations/implications - To date relatively few firms have carbon audited their supply chains at a product level and so industrial experience is limited. Market research on the likely behavioural response to carbon labelling is also at an early stage. There is sufficient evidence available, however, to conduct an initial critique of product level carbon auditing and labelling.
Practical implications - Some companies and government agencies should reconsider their plans for the carbon labelling of products.
Originality/value - This is the first paper in the logistics/supply chain literature to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this new form of carbon footprinting and labelling. It is intended to
stimulate debate among logistics academics and practitioners.
Keywords - Product specification, Labelling, Supply chain management, Carbon, Global warming
FOCUS, CITL, July 2009, p. 20-24
Abstract
It has been a hotly debated subject - but at last the verdict is in. Rather than finding that online shopping is detrimental to the environment, when considering the last mile stage only, successful home delivery compares favourably with conventional shopping. Professor Alan McKinnon and Dr Julia Edwards reveal their findings.
Green Logistics Report, Heriot Wats University, Edinburgh, 2009
Abstract
The research compared the carbon footprints of online and conventional shopping for small goods, and focused on the final stage in the delivery process. It was found that a typical van-based home delivery produced 181g CO2, compared with 4,274g CO2 for an average trip to the shops by car. An average bus trip by a shopper produced 1,265g CO2. In other words, when a customer drives to the shops and buys fewer than 24 small, non-food items per trip or travels by bus and buys fewer than 7 items, home delivery is more environmentally-friendly. The critical factors in the calculation are the number of items purchased per shopping trip, the choice of travel mode, the probability of the consumer being at home to receive the goods and the way in which unwanted goods are returned. The figures quoted above make no allowance for failed home delivery or the return of unwanted products, though these complications are addressed in the report.
LRN 2008 presentation
LRN 2008 paper, in: A. Lyons (Eds) Logistics Research Network 2008 - Conference proceedings, Univ of Liverpool Abstract
There is some debate concerning the relative environmental impacts of online shopping (clicks) and conventional shopping (bricks). With e-tail spending in general having increased by over 400% in the last 4 years and 17.5% of all retail spending now taking place online, it is important to understand the environmental consequences of this shift in purchasing behaviour. The debate is particularly fierce in the groceries sector, with several of the large British supermarkets proclaiming the environmental benefits of their online operations. The truth behind these claims is very difficult to assess because of the complexity of the last mile issues involved in comparing groceries sold online and conventionally. In order to gain an insight into the travel issues associated with online and conventional grocery shopping, a survey was carried out on the students of Heriot-Watt University's Edinburgh campus in April 2008. This paper contains an analysis and discussion of the results of the survey and discusses the implications for green logistics. It shows that students shop for food online less than the general population and that their shopping online for food is statistically correlated with car ownership, where they live and nationality. Overall it appears that shopping online has made very little difference to the monthly car mileage of the respondents.
LRN 2008 presentation
LRN 2008 paper, in: A. Lyons (Eds) Logistics Research Network 2008 - Conference proceedings, Univ of Liverpool
Abstract
This paper focuses on the issues associated with carbon auditing conventional and online book supply chains. Any comparative audit requires the establishment of typical operations within both retail channels. Therefore, the respective activities downstream of the point of divergence, where a physical book is destined for either high street or online sales, are examined. From the start point of a publisher's distribution centre (DC), discussions summarise the treatment of books at each step in the respective book supply chains to the consumer's home. Typical process stages are identified, and justification for any assumptions given, thus ensuring a suitably-robust context for the carbon methodology.
updated 22 March 2010
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