Green Logistics
Green logistics is quickly gaining resonance throughout logistics and supply chain
management. Donors and host nations are becoming more and more aware of
green issues, and international legislation is being introduced and applied worldwide to all aspects of business including humanitarian supply chains.
What is Green Logistics ?
Green logistics, in the context of humanitarian logistics encourages all stakeholders
to consider the impact of their actions on the environment. The main objective of
Green logistics is to coordinate the activities within a supply chain in such a way
that beneficiary needs are met at "least cost" to the environment. It is a principle
component of reverse logistics. In the past cost has been defined in purely
monetary terms, where-as "cost" can now also be understood as the external costs
of logistics associated with: climate change, air pollution, dumping waste (including
packaging waste), soil degradation, noise, vibration and accidents, as illustrated
below
Green or sustainable logistics is concerned with reducing environmental and other
negative impacts associated with the movement of supplies. Sustainability seeks to
ensure that decisions made today do not have an adverse impact on future
generations. Green supply chains seek to reduce negative impact by redesigning
sourcing, distribution systems and managing reverse logistics so as to eliminate any
inefficiency, unnecessary freight movements and dumping of packaging.A good
example of one Logistics aspect that poses great risk to the environment is
packaging.Packaging represents one of the greatest challenges to environmental
friendly logistics while at the same time being vital in shipping and storage.Correct
or incorrect packaging has consequences for how much of a product can be stored,
how it is stored and or transported in a given space. This can increase to the unit
cost if the packaging hinders optimization of storage space. Many industries have
developed forms of packaging that do all that is required of them in transit but do
not justify the expense of returning them to the point of origin. This packaging is
only used once and then discarded. This principle goes all the way down to the level
of individual tins or cartons of food.It is this type of packaging that presents the
greatest challenge to logisticians as, increasingly, there is a responsibility for the
supplier and the buyer to recover and recycle or effectively dispose of packaging.
Environmental Management Systems (EMS)
Logistics and transport activities have been identified as having a major impact on
the environment in which we all live. For example, excess carbon emission has
changed the environmental landscape, by destroying the ecosystem. Indigenous
forests have thinned out and changed rain patterns thus impacting farming and
food production. Consequently logistics and transport have attracted significant
legislation at both national and international level. Targets for improving
environmental performance have been set by the international community via the
Rio, Kyoto and the Copenhagen summit meetings.
The ISO 14000 series of standards provides a formal system for the management of
environmental matters. The ISO 14000 family addresses various aspects of
environmental management. The very first two standards deal with environmental
management systems (EMS).
ISO 14001:2004 provides the requirements for an EMS.
ISO 14004:2004 gives general EMS guidelines.
Monitoring
Once an EMS is set up, it is then formally monitored through an auditing process,
which will identify corrective action that will need to be carried out. Top
management are required to engage in this process and to review the performance
of the system formally on a regular basis. This review may lead to the policy or
objectives being changed or updated in the light of audit reports or changes in
circumstances. This process should encourage a commitment to continuous
improvement in environmental management as well as ensuring that the
organisation is not exposed by failing to meet its legal and moral obligations.
