Speaker: Prof Henrik Palsson (Lund Universiteit)
Title: Environmental efficiency in e-commerce - Effects of packaging, the last mile, unsold products and product returns
Abstract:
The talk is based on
a 3-year project where we identified and studied factors that contribute to the
environmental impact of different distribution channels related to e-commerce
and conventional trade. The purpose of the talk is to first analyse and explain
factors determining whether conventional trade with stores or e- commerce with
home delivery is more energy-efficient. Then, the talk discusses implications
for companies and consumers regarding how to become more environmentally
responsible in e-commerce. The project has reviewed and analysed available
secondary data and captured detailed primary data from several cases. The talk
will discuss general patterns of energy consumption related to six energy
consumption factors (packaging, freight transport, passenger transport, product
waste, product returns, buildings). It will also discuss the impact of product
characteristics and product classes on these energy factors. The results show
the following: 1) The net effect of energy consumption was in the majority of
the cases positive for the e-commerce channel, 2) The proportion of unsold
products and product returns seem to have a major impact on the energy
efficiency of different sales channels, 3) Buildings had only a minor effect on
the energy consumption difference. It was slightly lower in the home delivery
systems, 4) Packaging contributed considerably to the energy consumption
difference for some products. The e-commerce channel consumed generally more
energy from packaging, but indirect effects (e.g. volume efficiency) were not
considered, and 5) The total energy consumption from transportation was greater
in the conventional supply chains, as the additional energy in passenger
transport generally outweighed the increased energy in freight transport in
e-commerce. The implications for companies and consumers that will be discussed
with concrete examples are based on how they affect the six energy-consumption
factors.