Examining CO2e reduction within the German logistics sector

• Date: 06 May 2014
• Published date: 06 May 2014
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLM-09-2011-0073
• Pages: 54-84
• Author: Jens Tacken,Vasco Sanchez Rodrigues,Robert Mason
• Subject Matter: Management science & operations,Logistics

Examining CO

2e

reduction within

the German logistics sector

Jens Tacken

Shipping and Logistics Unit, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK, and

Vasco Sanchez Rodrigues and Robert Mason

Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent to which the measures outlined in

frameworks for guiding CO

2e

emissions reduction in road freight transport in the academic literature

are actually being realised at a practical level.

Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative evaluation is carried out of the transport-related

CO

2e

measurement and reduction initiatives in the German logistics sector through ten case study

logistics service providers. For each, senior managers are interviewed with the findings synthesised

through content-analysis. The initiatives are evaluated against an accepted leading framework model

used to categorise CO

2e

emissions reduction initiatives.

Findings – The investigated firms, although at different evolutionary stages,understand that logistics

and ecology do not, for the most part, contradict each other and both need to be considered in their

companies’long-term planning. The frameworkused to categoriseCO

2e

emissionsreduction initiatives in

logistics provision is largely confirmed, but also refined.

Research limitations/implications – The research reaffirms and refines frameworks developed to

encourage and assess green logistics practice, in a specific country’s (Germany) logistics industry.

Practical implications – The analysis shows strong evidence that the options identified in theory

are also valid for the German logistics service provider companies that were investigated. Most of the

participating companies apply many of the operational options to reduce the environmental impact,

although no one company is pursuing all the possible initiatives.

Originality/value – There is a lack of empirical studies which assess the application of green logistics

initiatives identified inacademic literature to practice. This paper contributes to filling this gap.

Keywords Logistics, Decarbonization initiatives, German logistics service providers,

Road freight transport

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

In recent years, good environmental governance has become an increasingly significant

priority for organisations due to growing economic, political and societal pressures.

As a result, companies are further prioritising their efforts to reduce their environmental

impact. The responsible management of logistics operations is clearly an important

element of this pursuit (McKinnon, 2010a), as, for example, an estimated 8 per cent

of the global energy-related CO

2e

(the equivalent in CO

2

of the global warming impact

of all the green house gases (GHGs)) emissions are derived from freight transport

(Kahn et al., 2007). The term “Green Logistics” has been coined to cover this, defined

as “the attempt to measure and minimise the ecological impact of logistics activities”

(Rogers and Tibben-Lembke, 1998).

However, a major concern is that in road freight transport, the g rowth in the amount

of energy consumed is increasing at a faster rate than the energy used by cars and

buses and is forecasted to outpace it by the beginning of the 2020s (World Business

Council for Sustainable Development, 2004). Consequently, considerable focus is being

applied by governments, such as the Europ ean Union (EU), to decouple this growth in

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

www.emeraldinsight.com/0957-4093.htm

Received 20 September 2011

Revised 23 July 2012

4 March 2013

Accepted 5 March 2013

The International Journal of Logistics

Management

Vol. 25 No. 1, 2014

pp. 54-84

rEmeraldGroup PublishingLimited

0957-4093

DOI 10.1108/IJLM-09-2011-0073

54

IJLM

25,1

carbon emissions from growth in gross domestic product. To support this endeavour it

is vitally important to explore in detail how logistics service providers are meeting the

challenge of more successfully managing their emissions performance.

The aim of the paper, therefore, is to undertake a thorough examination of carbon

reduction in the sector of logistics in a leading national economy of the world and of the

EU – Germany. The German logistics sector has been chosen as the focus of this study,

because the German economy is among the most developed in the world and thus is an

important base for logistics service provision activities, and also due to the fact that it is

centrally located in the EU, so geographically acts as a critical logistical hub for many

firms. The paper features an extensive qualitative evaluation of the transport-related

carbon reduction initiatives applied by German logistics service providers, as well as

a study ofthe perceptions of managers from the sector of the drivers and barriers for the

implementation of green logistics practices. A conceptual model has been developed from

the literature to frame the research, as presented in Figure 1.

McKinnon (2007) has developed a broad framework for guiding CO

2e

emissions

reduction in road freight transport. This framework has been applied, in previous

research, at aggregated and macro levels. However, the framework has not been

applied to investigate in practice how road freight transport operations are tackling

their carbon footprint. This research will undertake this by first developing a fuller

comprehension of the framework and then subsequently applying it to the logistics

service provision sector in Germany.

The research will be structured around an examination of distinct aspects: the drivers

encouraging and the barriers preventing green logistics as well as an assessment of the

green logistics measurement, standards and initiatives, with a particular focuson carbon

reduction in freight transport networks being undertaken.

Drivers of green logistics

Seuring and Muller (2008) developed a model that has external and internal triggers or

drivers of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM). According to these authors, the

external drivers of SSCM are the government, customers and other stakeholders, whereas

the internal triggers are the focal company. In terms of external drivers, their research is

very much aligned with the work of Holt and Ghobadian (2009) who have developed

a categorisation which can be adapted to segment the literature works on the drivers of

green logistics. This encompasses four external drivers: legislation, supply chain,

competition and society. A discussion of each follows below, together, for this research,

with two additional internal drivers: the quest of employees to encourage social

responsibility from within organisations and the imperative of cost reduction, which have

been added to the Holt and Ghobadian’s (2009) categorisation for this research.

German third-party logistics service providers

Green Logistics

Barriers

Decarbonisation

initiatives

Drivers

CO2e emissions

measurements

Figure 1.

Research framework

55

Examining

CO

2e

reduction