Analysing sustainable transport packaging solutions for the home delivery of dry groceries

Abstract

Logistics plays an import role in e-commerce and so in the online grocery market. This research analysed different transport packaging solutions for the home delivery of dry groceries. Insights into the effects of several transport packaging have been gained. A case study has been applied to PostNL, to find the best alternative for the delivery of dry groceries in their supply chain. Sustainability plays an important role in this research. The Triple Bottom Line of social, economic and environmental sustainability are the fundamentals for the criteria on which the alternatives have been evaluated. Also, constraints of the systems in which the transport packaging must function in have been established. The criteria are important aspects like environmental impact, costs, food safety, ergonomics and logistics performance. Weights have been identified to show the relative importance of the criteria. The identification of the importance of the weights has been done by conducting a questionnaire to actors in the food delivery supply chain of PostNL. The method which has been used for the determination of the weights is called the Best-Worst Method (BWM). The alternatives have been assessed on the criteria and compared to each other. This has been done conducting a Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA). The scoring of the alternatives on the criteria has been done using interviews, questionnaires, calculations models and experiments. One of the calculations models is a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in which the environmental impact of the alternatives has been determined. A useful methodology, combining MCA, LCA and BWM, has been developed for the assessment of sustainable transport packaging solutions.