Special Issue "Sustainability in Logistics and Supply Chains"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2022.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Sara Perotti
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Polytechnic University of Milan, 20156 Milan, Italy
Interests: sustainability in logistics and in supply chains; warehousing and warehouse energy efficiency; ICT supporting logistics and freight transport; logistics 4.0; multichannel logistics
Dr. Claudia Colicchia
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Polytechnic University of Milan, 20156 Milan, Italy
Interests: supply chain sustainability; supply chain risk management; ecoresilience; industry 4.0 and logistics 4.0; citation network analysis
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past 40 years, the world has experienced a steady increase in global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, considered the main factor responsible for climate change. The improvement of the level of companies’ supply chain sustainability is deemed to be a fundamental strategic action toward the achievement of the goals of sustainable development. In fact, logistics and supply chain activities are responsible for at least one third of energy consumption and one third of GHG emissions. To mitigate these impacts, it is important to take a systemic approach to a transformational change of our supply chains, from production to distribution, to make them more sustainable. The impact of logistics and supply chains on sustainability should not be tackled just from an economic and environmental perspective, but also from a social perspective, which includes issues related to work conditions, employability, and equality.

New managerial paradigms can be the enabling factors of this transition, to develop appropriate mindset, skills and competences, and managerial practices within organizations. As such, sustainability has started to become more and more of concern among both academics and practitioners also in the field of logistics and supply chain management. Although studies have progressively increased, this arena still offers multiple interesting research directions that deserve adequate consideration. Specifically, it is essential that research produces investigations able to shed light on how sustainability is approached by businesses and how organizations can build more sustainable supply chains.

The aim of this Special Issue is to provide valuable insights into Sustainability in Logistics and Supply Chains, with a specific interest in methods, empirical evidence and applications, simulations, as well as conceptual frameworks. Papers are particularly invited in the following areas:

  • Sustainable supply chain practices;
  • Green initiatives in logistics operations;
  • Green warehousing and warehouse energy efficiency;
  • Sustainability in transport and last mile delivery;
  • Sustainability implications of Logistics 4.0, automation and digitalization;
  • Impact of e-commerce and omnichannel logistics on sustainability;
  • Social sustainability in logistics and supply chains;
  • Assessment methods, modeling, and simulation for sustainability in logistics and supply chains;
  • Performance measurement for sustainability in logistics and the supply chain.

Dr. Sara Perotti
Dr. Claudia Colicchia
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • supply chain
  • logistics
  • warehousing
  • material handling
  • transport
  • logistics 4.0
  • digitalization
  • e-commerce logistics
  • last-mile delivery
  • energy efficiency
  • environmental sustainability
  • economic sustainability
  • social sustainability

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Decarbonizing the Cold Chain: Long-Haul Refrigerated Deliveries with On-Board Photovoltaic Energy Integration
Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8506; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158506 - 29 Jul 2021
Viewed by 373
Abstract
Decarbonizing the cold chain is a priority for sustainability due to the increasing demand for chilled/frozen food and pharmaceutics. Refrigerated transport requires additional fuel for refrigeration other than for traction. Photovoltaic panels on the vehicle rooftop, a battery bank, and a power conversion [...] Read more.
Decarbonizing the cold chain is a priority for sustainability due to the increasing demand for chilled/frozen food and pharmaceutics. Refrigerated transport requires additional fuel for refrigeration other than for traction. Photovoltaic panels on the vehicle rooftop, a battery bank, and a power conversion system can replace the diesel engine driving the transport refrigerated unit. In long-haul deliveries, vehicles cross zones with different climate conditions, which affect both refrigeration requirements and photovoltaic energy conversion. Mandatory driver’s breaks and rest also affect delivery timing and energy consumption. A multiperiod, multizone optimization model is developed to size the onboard photovoltaic system, based on features of the delivery tour. The model is applied to a palletized chilled food delivery from North-Eastern Italy, showing a payback time of around four years, which can drop under two years for expected reduction of component costs. Economic and environmental performances can be increased by also allowing refrigerated products on-board during the return journey, leading to more fuel savings. Photovoltaic-integrated long-haul delivery for frozen products is not convenient at current market costs. Different climate conditions are tested, showing the model ability to act as a decision support tool to foster renewable energy penetration into the cold chain. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Logistics and Supply Chains)
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