Relevance for companies
Global Logistics 2015+ reveals that environmentally compatible logistics is a relevant issue but has not yet reached the status of a top priority for many companies. The majority of the sample (60 per cent) expect that an absence of green logistics by 2015 may even lead to financially tangible disadvantages. However, interviews revealed that most companies have just begun to put a focus on the greenness of their logistics. The first steps in a green logistics direction were taken (eg reduction in / avoidance of transport and energy) – however, these are rather generic objectives applying only to a particular ‘environmental issue’. The majority of the companies have no concrete goals, measures or holistic approaches in order to achieve ecologically sustainable solutions for logistics processes. This is often caused by a shortage of standards, tools and methods, leaving respondents to wait for concrete legal requirements and guidance (for, say, CO2 emissions). The exact impact of logistics systems on the environment is largely unknown. In the study, 70 per cent of the participants identified a need for tools that measure the overall environmental impact of logistics. Existing tools and methods are sometimes not known or not fully deployable in practice.