Green Logistics: Meaning, Challenges, And Solution

 
Green or eco logistics is a collection of working policies and actions to minimalize the impacts that business area activities cause on the environment. This green logistics idea impacts various areas, such as the following:
 

 
Customer happiness depends on efficient and timely delivery of a product. In fact, on-time delivery has been equated with customer and money. Various online studies and statistics taken on the importance of order fulfillment and customer happiness show the following:

• Process configuration
• Transport structure
• Transport systems
• Transport equipment
• Good distribution
• Good storage

The environmental impact or feasibility is often forgotten when businesses use a traditional approach. By implementing green logistics, we can find a balance between the economy and ecology so that neither is negatively impacted.
 

 
The burning question now is why we should implement green logistics. What is the purpose of green logistics?
 
Green logistics is used to measure how much carbon footprint your logistics operation is generating. This will give us an idea of where to start implementing measures for sustainability and how to control those implementation results. The UNE_EN 16258:2013 international standard is one of the favorite methods to measure how much energy is consumed and calculate the amount of greenhouse gas emitted.
 
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To reduce the pollution of noise, water, air, and soil, you can analyze how much each logistics area is impacted, particularly transport-related. The maximum adverse impact on the environment happens during transportation, where the high-emission vehicles used for transportation wreak havoc on the environment.
 
The design and packaging of the product play a key role in minimizing the overall impact on the environment. To be environmentally cautious, you can reuse containers and recycle the packages. Consequently, you will end up using supplies judiciously.
 

 
Currently, the logistics industry, in general, is not known for high sustainability. Consequently, when companies try to implement green logistics measures, they face several impediments.
 
When transporting goods, companies have to rely on traditional fuels. We do not have any feasible alternative fuel sources yet. These traditional fuel sources, in turn, have a high rate of emission, which gives a high rate of carbon footprint that negatively impacts the environment.
 
There are a lot of vehicles used to deliver orders that significantly impact the traffic in urban areas.Sometimes these delivery vehicles are not even loaded to their full capacity.

 
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There is an urgent requirement for infrastructure to implement the regulation placed on emission limits. A separate facility is required to house those who manage various aspects and activities of day-to-day logistics.
 
Irrespective of whether you keep the logistics division of your company in-house or you outsource it, you always have to keep budget and margin in mind. This leaves little or no scope for investing in different aspects, such as innovations to automate processes, research on how to handle products efficiently, and infrastructure costs.
 
Another impediment to implementing green logistics is customer demand. Nowadays, customers want the product at lightning speed. This is not conducive to implementing green logistics in customer delivery. The amount of coordination required to deliver products within 24 hours and be environmentally efficient is huge. Since the customer cannot view the logistics aspect of the order delivery, companies cannot charge them separately for it. Billing a customer for eco-friendly logistics and transportation is hardly sustainable in the long run. So, green logistics becomes unimportant, irrelevant, and frankly expensive.
 

 
There are a few ways in which you can introduce green logistics in your company and still be profitable. The idea is to ensure that you are being economical, eco-friendly, and efficient.
 
You can check if your supplier uses an eco-friendly approach and prefer those who do. That includes limiting the use of plastics wherever possible. You can also include environment friendly approaches in your manufacturing process. Favor those suppliers who are closest to your location so that the process of transport is smooth.
 
Another significant way of being eco-friendly is to plan your delivery route better. You can use automated systems to plan better your delivery routes based on the orders you receive. Invest in vehicles that leave a minimum carbon footprint.
 
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Another way to simultaneously be economically and environmentally sustainable is to have a warehouse. You can ensure that you can store and market your products effectively and reduce costs in delivery. You can ensure that the warehouse you build or buy is eco-friendly or can at least support your eco-friendly endeavors without putting a substantial dent in your pocket.
 
If you go the warehouse route, you can ensure that you can manage the waste generated in the warehouse. Check if you can reuse or recycle the waste. If not, ensure that you are disposing of the waste in an eco-friendly manner.
 
Ensure that you are on top of your stocking requirements. Doing that takes care of supply logistics issues such as ordering products unnecessarily and wasting them. Being unable to meet customer demands for a particular product or discarding products because you ordered too many are nightmares both economically and ecologically.

 
To sum it up, going green in your logistics solution gives you an edge over your competitors as that makes you a cut above the rest and ensures that you and your company are future-ready. Your energy-saving measures will help you deal with your increasing supply costs. These measures will also ensure that you comply with various environmental guidelines. As we rapidly progress toward the future, being environmentally conscious is the only way forward. Minimizing your carbon footprint, maximizing your eco-friendly endeavors, and being conscious of how you deal with logistical issues will go a long way to ensure that your company is future-ready.
 
Green logistics or eco logistics will ensure that you are maximizing your potential, using your resources smartly, and being mindful of the environment at the same time.

 
Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Los Angeles, California, XPDEL recently launched its expert fulfillment services in India. The company offers a wide range of customer experience-based fulfillment and logistics solutions for eCommerce, powered by industry-leading technology platforms. XPDEL clients benefit from live dashboards that allow proactive performance with actionable insights. The advanced eCommerce Fulfillment Technology Platform has made it effortless for XPDEL’s clients to integrate and improve speed to market.