Costs and Benefits of Green Logistics

Optimized supply chain processes can help reduce carbon emissions and increase the ecological sustainability of business processes. Until now, the costs and benefits of supply chain measures were not investigated with quantitative methods nor based on case studies or looked at in relation to each other.

Using realistic scenarios, the costs and benefits of 11 green logistics measures were examined. The measures were selected for their innovativeness, relevance, and practicability. Scenarios such as integrating two separate sourcing networks, sourcing standardized parts locally, switching from returnable containers to disposable containers for distribution, and extending delivery windows were evaluated. All of the measures were found to be feasible from an ecological point of view and result in emission reductions up to 80 percent. When cost efficiency was considered, the findings were particularly interesting: Four of the measures were shown to reduce supply chain costs by up to 25 percent. The remaining seven measures are accompanied by considerable additional costs.