A Short History of Green Logistics Research in the UK

Professor Alan McKinnon Logistics Research Centre Heriot-Watt University

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Green Logistics Project Launch Birmingham 2006

Scope Most logistics research focuses on ways of saving money /

increasing profitability

Many efficiency improvements also yield environmental benefits Review confined to research which is explicitly concerned with
the environmental impact of logistical activity

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Research Sponsors and Participants

universities research councils

Green Logistics Research

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Research Sponsors and Participants

environmental pressure groups
T2000, FoE, Greenpeace, CPRE

central government government agencies (TRRL) local authorities consultants

companies universities research councils funding

Green Logistics Research

trade associations CSDF, FTA

professional institutes CILT, ICE, IHT, CIPS participation

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Research Themes

Reducing the environmental impact of freight transport Managing the return flow of waste reverse logistics Minimising the effects of warehousing on surrounding areas

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1970s
Origins of physical distribution / logistics as an academic discipline Emergence of environmental campaigning against heavy lorry traffic and road construction

concern mainly about localised impact of freight traffic

Cooling trend since 1945 causing concern about return of the Ice Age

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Intrusion of the heavy lorry.

Punch 1973
Smash the next lamp on the left, flatten the pavement by the pub, nudge the sweet shop, scrape the Market Cross, then just follow the skid marks to London
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Growth of Anti-Lorry Sentiment

Reasons:

Sharp increase in lorry traffic Erosion of freight traffic from rail Increased use of large trucks in retail delivery role Campaigning by environmental organisations: Civic Trust Heavy Lorries (1970)

Initiatives
Dykes Act (1973) on Lorry Routing Pettit Inquiry (1973) Lorries and the World We Live In Lorries and the Environment Committee (1974-79) Armitage Inquiry 1980

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Transport and Road Research Laboratory: Freight Studies

Quiet heavy vehicle Urban freight studies Empty running by lorries Lorry routing schemes Public perception of lorries

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Many Small versus Few Big Dilemma

Some environmental costs correlate strongly with vehicle numbers: e.g. air pollution, noise and accident risk Others correlate mainly with vehicle size and weight: e.g. vibration, accident severity, visual intrusion

1 x 16 tonne load

2 x 8 tonne loads

4 x 4 tonne loads

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Testing Public Perceptions of Vehicle Size

330 people interviewed in two towns Inconclusive result: no clear preferences can be established 4 small and 1 large vehicle combinations were equally disliked. 2 medium sized vehicles were the least disliked

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Urban Freight Studies

1970s: heyday of the urban freight study Differing emphasis: North America: load consolidation small order problem Europe: load disaggregation ban large vehicles from towns Urban transhipment
Location Hammersmith Camberley Chichester Bradford Swindon Hull Date 1974 1975 1975 1975 1976 1976 1976

feasibility studies
Consultant / Researcher Metra Ltd. CIDP Ltd. Lichfield and Assocs WYTCONSULT Transport and Road Research Lab. (TRRL) Lorries and the Environment Committee Urquhart (PhD thesis)

Urban Distribution Centre

Barnsley

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1980s Greater London Council: freight on freight consolidation and freight complexes Wood Inquiry into the night lorry ban Impact of warehousing development (Dept of the Environment) Development of intermodal transport (combined transport)

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Industry Initiative: Greening of the ILDM 1993

Analysing the environmental impact of logistics Establishing environmental best practice Promoting adoption of green practices Heading-off tougher government regulation

78% of logistics managers considered the EU to be the main source of pressure to green logistics operations

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Importance of Environmental Issues to Logistics Managers 1994 survey

0% W aste / packaging material Vehicle emissions Public perception of trucks Fuel utilisation Road congestion Environmental costs Choice of transport mode
Source: PE Consulting / Institute of Logistics Green Logistics Project Launch Birmingham 2006

% of Logistics Managers 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Local Environmental Impact of a Distribution Centre

Intrusion: Visual Air Noise

Energy generators refrigeration units Maintenance storage fuel/oil storage vehicle wash parking Time Distance Wind Seasonal

Contamination Water Land

Risk Safety Fire Property

Effects on residences

Vehicle routes site access

External depot Waste oil chemicals litter Security Lights; Load speaker Source: Worsford / Department of Transport

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The Landscaped Warehouse

Source: Logistics Manager 1/2005

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Just-in-Time Delivery: the environmental impact

Some suppliers have adapted better than others to the disciplines of just-in-time delivery

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SSRC Transport and the Environment Programme 1992-4

Funded research at Heriot-Watt and Cranfield on the relationship

between logistics trends, freight traffic growth and environmental impact

Developed new frameworks for the analysis of this relationship

and conducted extensive surveys of logistics managers in different industrial sectors

Formed the basis for later EU 4th and 5th Framework research
projects on links between logistics and freight traffic growth at a European level: REDEFINE and SULOGTRA

SUpply chain LOGistics TRAnsport

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EU Research Frameworks
Support for research on many aspects of Green Logistics REDEFINE Sulogtra Emma Possum Stella Infredat Trilog Europe Sprite BEST STEMM

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Effect of Transport Cost Increases on the Optimum Number of Distribution Centres

L evel V a lu e D e n s ity /to n n e 50 100 500 1000 5000 10000 20000 T y p ic a l P ro d u ct C em en t C om pound F e r t ilis e r P ap er C akes S t a in le s s S t e e l S in k s C lo t h in g P erso n a l C o m p u ters P resen t L evel W D 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 1 1 3 3 2 1 1 of +50% W 3 3 3 3 2 2 1 D 3 3 3 3 2 2 1 R oad T ra n sp o rt C o sts +150% W 7 7 6 3 3 2 1 D 10 10 3 3 3 2 2 +200% W 7 7 7 7 3 2 2 D 10 10 10 7 3 2 2

+100% W 3 3 3 3 2 2 1 D 3 3 3 3 2 2 1

W = W e e k ly D e liv e r y

D = Daily Delivery

Optimum number of D = D ily D e liv e distributionacentres tor y supply the UK

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The Food Miles Issue

SAFE Alliance: Food Miles Report (1994)

Transport Intensity and environmental impact of the yoghurt supply chain For every pot of yoghurt sold in a German supermarket a truck travels 9 metres

S. Boge, Wupperthal Institute 1993

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Food Miles Issue

Effect of Globalisation on the Christmas Dinner

Guardian 11 Dec 2001

Bottled water airfreighted to the UK from Fiji

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Social Costs of Food Transport

Infrastructure 815m CO2 364m Air quality 439m Noise 283m

Total social costs of UK-generated food transport 2002 9.1 bn

Accidents 2036m

Congestion 5187m

Source: AEA Technology et al 2005

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Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution 1994

We recommend that all urban authorities adopt a presumption against access for HGVs over 17 tonnes The target we propose for rail is to increase the proportion of tonne-kms carried by rail from 6.5% to 10% by 2000 and 20% by 2010 We believe a sustainable transport policy would be based on growth of no more than 10% a decade in overall demand for freight transport over the next 30 years.

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Challenging Freight Transport Planning Orthodoxy

John Whitelegg

Fallacy of predict and provide

Freight absurdities - the movement of goods over large distances for no apparent reasonneed to curb the rise in pointless freight transport

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Weak versus Strong Sustainability

Weak sustainable development:
- environmental objectives are traded-off against economic and social objectives

Strong sustainable development:

- environmental considerations impose an absolute constraint on the achievement of economic and social objectives

Source: Whitelegg, 1995

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Close Correlation between Economic Growth and the Growth of Road Freight Transport

140 120 Index 1990=100 100 80 60 40 20 0

72 78 19 76 19 74 19 80 19 82 84 19 86 19 88 19 90 19 92 19 94 19 96 19 19 19

GDP Tonne-km

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Decoupling of road tonne-km GDP trends

150 140

Index value (1990=100)

GDP
130 120 110 100 90 80

road tonne-kms

19 90

20 00

96

97

98

91

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92

93

94

95

99

01

02

03

04

Factors Contributing to the Decoupling

Tonne-kms in line with GDP

Erosion of manufacturing to other countries Changing structure of the economy Domestic supply chains becoming fully extended other factors
e r rat e high s

modal shift

67%

33%

foreign haulier penetration 1997 foreign haulier penetration 2004

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Freight Modal Split 1985-2004

300 250 Bn Tonne-kms 200 150 100 50 0
19 85 19 86 19 87 19 88 19 89 19 90 19 91 19 92 19 93 19 94 19 95 19 96 19 97 19 98 19 99 20 00 20 01 20 02 20 03 20 04

Road Pipeline Water Rail

Source: DfT

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Average External Costs of Different Transport Modes in EU

205 200 180 160 Euro /1000 tkm 140 120 88 100 80 60 40 20 0 Lorries
Accidents Noise Air pollution

Application of the polluter pays principle

Source: INFRAS/IWW3/2000

19

17

Rail
Climate change

Air
Landscape Urban effects

Waterborne
Upstream process

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Variations in CO2 Emissions per Tonne-km by Mode

g of CO2 per tonne-km 0
Aircraft (500km) Aircraft (1500km) Truck (20 tonnes) Truck (35 tonnes) Train (diesel) Train (electric) Barge Coastal vessel

500

1000

1500 1420

800 200 100 69 38 40 13

Source: Dings and Dijstra (1997)

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Research on Freight Modal Split

Bayliss and Edwards Industrial Demand for Transport (1969) Numerous research papers and theses on freight modal split issue Innovative methodologies developed:
stated preference models Leeds Adaptive Stated Preference (LASP) model

Development of new multi-modal freight forecasting tools

Marine Motorways
Inverness

NORTH
Aberdeen

Dundee Perth

Port Greenock Glasgow

Glasgow

Rosyth
Edinburgh

Rosyth - Tees 141 nm (261 km)

Aberdeen - Thames 393 nm (728 km)

Hunterston Ardrossan

Rosyth - Thames 385 nm (713 km)

Newcastle

Tees
Middlesbrough

Tees - Thames 257 nm (476 km)

Clyde - Mersey 180 nm (334 km)

Liverpool

Leeds

Hull Immingham

Humber - Thames 187 nm (347 km)

Manchester

Birkenhead
Nottingham Great Yarmouth Birmingham Peterborough

Cambridge Felixstowe Oxford Swansea Cardiff

Shellhaven Tilbury
London

Sheerness
Dover

Southampton Exmouth Newport

Rosyth - Thames 385 nm (713 km)

Maritime Routes
St. Ives

Plymouth

Equivalent Road Routes Main UK Trunk Routes

Distance in Kilometres 0 50 100 150 200

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New Initiatives on Packaging Waste

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Reverse Logistics
packaging waste directives in Europe growth of interest in returnable packaging Jim Stocks CLM White Paper on Reverse Logistics US academics associate Green Logistics with Reverse Logistics
The movement of materials from the earth through production, distribution and consumption back to the earth. Jonathan Weeks (1996 chairman of the Institute of Logistics) impact of the recycling of packaging waste on freight transport system rationalising the movement of domestic waste in urban areas

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Modelling the Reverse Supply Chain

Information new product return flow Central Recovery Unit

2 service

Original channel TIER 1 modules assembly 5 4 OEM product assembly 3

Raw materials 6

parts fabrication

distribution

Users

1 Secondary market channel

7,8 Waste Management 7. Incineration 8. Land filling Product Recovery Management 5. Cannibalisation 6. Recycling

Direct Reuse 1. Direct reuse / resale

2. Repair 3. Refurbishment 4. Remanufacture

Source: based on Thierry et. al. Integrated supply chain (1995)

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Research on Sustainable Distribution

Identified new research areas Promise of a new journal of sustainable distribution research Future Integrated Transport research programme: - 5 freight projects out of 44 Formation of the Freight and Logistics Research Group Funding of research to support TransportEnergy Best Practice Programme
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Industry Government - University Collaboration

Best practice initiatives Support for industry-led benchmarking schemes Advisory programmes
Transport KPI programme Key Performance Indicators surveys:
Food supply chain Automotive supply chain Pallet load networks Parcel delivery network

Non-food retail distribution Construction supply chain

synchronised audits over 48 hour periods

benchmarking of vehicle utilisation and energy efficiency

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Greening of Road Freight Transport

Effects of Tightening Euro-emission Standards

Projected Emissions from Road Freight Operations in the UK

Source: Dureal Source: UK Dept for Transport
45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0
600

HGV Rigid HGV Artic

'000 tonnes of NOx 500 400 300 200 100 0
19 70 19 73 19 76 19 79 19 82 19 85 19 88 19 91 19 94 19 97 20 00 20 03 20 06 20 09 20 12 20 15 20 18 20 21 20 24

'000 tonnes of PM10

Particulates

Vans DERV Vans Petrol

Nitrogen Oxide

19 70 19 73 19 76 19 79 19 82 19 85 19 88 19 91 19 94 19 97 20 00 20 03 20 06 20 09 20 12 20 15 20 18 20 21 20 24

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Vehicle Telematics and Routing Systems

Cutting vehicle kilometres Minimising exposure to traffic congestion Cutting fuel consumption and CO2 emissions Permitting more environmentally-sensitive charging systems

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Press and Public Continue to Dislike Lorries

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Climate Change: the New Priority

Waterway 7.07% Vans 9.37% Rail 1.12% Pipeline 0.33% Air 0.07%

HGV 82.05%

32.4 m tonnes of CO2 from freight transport 20% of all transport CO2 emissions Source: Lefevere 5% of total UK CO2 emissions

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Retail Consolidation Systems

University of Westminster review of urban freight consolidation for DfT

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Development of the Life Cycle Approach

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Logistics Contribution to Total Externalities

Need to minimise embedded carbon in products

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Use of Supply Chain Mapping Tools to Measure CO2 Emissions

University of Cardiff, 2004

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Applying Lean Supply Chain Principles on CO2 Emissions

Analysis of a food supply chain in the UK Concluded that leaner supply chains also had lower CO2 emissions

Source: Mason et al, Cardiff University, 2002

ITeLs Project

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Impact of Inventory Centralisation on CO2 Emissions

Case study: ITT Flygt

Decentralised system Average length of haul Total tonne-kms (ann.) Kohn 2005 CO2 emissions (ann.) 1512 km 2.2 million 92.2 tonnes Centralised system 2153 km 2.9 million 131.1 tonnes

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Conclusions
Research objectives evolved from curbing the HGV to wider analysis of supply chain impacts Emphasis shifted from localised environmental impacts to global warming Close involvement of government, industry and trade bodies Priority given to green-gold measures weak form of sustainability Externalities per tonne-km in the UK have been declining Globally tonne-kms are increasing exporting the pollution problem Sharp increase in corporate awareness of environmental issues Plenty work still to be done..
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Contact details

Logistics Research Centre Heriot-Watt University EDINBURGH UK A.C.McKinnon@hw.ac.uk http://www.sml.hw.ac.uk/logistics

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