Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: The food industry is one of the world’s largest industrial sectors. Studies of the food sector clearly demonstrate that it is one of the most prolific energy users, and thus a significant contributor to global warming, acidification, photochemical ozone formation, and eutrophication. \nGovernments and regulations are paying more and more attention to the environmental impacts of the economic activities forcing manufacturers to be responsible for their products. \nAt the same time, customers in developed countries are starting to consider ecological and ethical criteria in selecting food products demanding safe food of high quality produced with the minimal environmental impact. \nTherefore, how to reduce carbon emissions during food raw material production, processing, packaging, transport and other processes and how to develop low-carbon food are the main challenges of the food industrial sector. \nThis induces the concept of the “Green supply chain management” (GrSCM), defined as the integration of environmental thinking into SCM, including product design, raw materials sourcing and selection, manufacturing process selection, delivery of final product to the consumers as well as end of life management of the product after its useful life (Srivastava, 2007). \nIn this context, the present thesis is focalized on the logistics activity related to the food supply chain and its purposes are: \n•\tWith regard to long term decision, introducing an innovative closed loop supply chain design methodology where both economic and environmental sustainability are guaranteed. \n•\tFacing with the short term decision, firstly highlighting the benefits derived from the driver learning in the routing optimization. This part of the work was developed during a period of study in Denmark, at the Technical University of Denmark. Then, this research aims to present the CO2 estimation model and to propose a sustainable routing problem formulation. The study points out how the drivers’ familiarity with the served territories allows to reduce the greenhouse gasses emission. Finally, it is considered the last part of the food supply chain, the waste collection. With the intent of guaranteeing the economical and environmental sustainability, it is introduced an innovative vehicle routing model integrated with the real time traceability data. \nAll these activities are associated with appropriate software applications. \nThe dissertation, after a brief introduction, is divided, in accordance with the distinction of long and short decision, into two main parts \n•\tSustainable supply chain design; \n•\tSustainable supply chain planning.
Author: Giorgia Zanin
Language: English
Subfield: Strategy and Management
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W97417903