Milk from Mecklenburg, strawberries from Spain, Bananas from Ecuador - what we eat and drink has often been transported half around the globe. Sustainability is a key aspect of teaching in the logistics programmes at THWS. But what is sustainable and what tweaks could be used for optimisation?
Minimising transportation routes, reducing CO2-emissions: Sustainability is on everyone's lips. This is also true for the food industry, quite literally. Will we, however, only eat what is grown locally as a consequence? Birgit Gampl, Professor of Applied Logistics at the Faculty of Business and Engineering at THWS, does not consider this idea a realistic outlook: "The world will continue to be globalised because we want to keep eating avocados. We are simply used to having products available that are available at other places in the world." And anyway, regionality of food would not be everything. Because food that is on the one hand grown locally but on the other hand requires large greenhouses and vast amounts of energy, is anything but sustainable.
This discrepancy can also be seen with organic produce which has seen a true hype recently, even though it is on average 30 percent more expensive than conventional produce. Demand for the supposedly sustainable organic produce is so high "that Germany cannot keep up with demand", says Professor Dr. Ulrich Müller-Steinfahrt, Head of the Institute of Applied Logistics Solutions (IAL) and Sustainability Officer at THWS. The result: More and more organic produce is imported from abroad. And one should definitely ask oneself "how sustainable such organic produce is if the transportation routes are longer", as the logistics professor states. He sees indicators for people reconsidering their consumer behaviour: "I am sure, and there is enough evidence by studies, that sustainable products with an accordingly low carbon footprint will be as high in demand in future as organic produce even though they are more expensive", says Professor Dr. Müller-Steinfahrt. "Consumer behaviour will change and move away from mass consumption."
Ecological and economic aspects are relevant to companies
Also the food industry has recognised the signs of the times: Sustainabilty has become an increasingly important target figure of companies because it is demanded by customers. The same is true for logistics: Customers of logistics companies are increasingly requesting sustainable transport services, are demanding concrete information on the carbon footprint of the transportation. Even though logistics is subject to economic pressure, profit maximisation and increase of efficiency are no longer the only valid success criteria. However, economic aspects are dominant: "Many companies act if the effects are ecological and economic at the same time, so eco-efficient", says Müller-Steinfahrt.
Various measures are available to the logistics industry in order to make their economic activity more sustainable. For example, the occupancy rate of lorries was not optimal, says Professor Dr. Müller-Steinfahrt. There must be no ban on thinking: Cooperations with competitors could be one way to optimise transportations. "Digitisation can also help to share scarce resources in an optimised way", the expert adds. And what tweaks can the logistics sector make in order to become more sustainable? Here, it is important to mention that logistics amounts to seven to eight percent of the CO2 emissions of a product. The major share by far is caused during production. It is nevertheless important to act on this, Müller-Steinfahrt emphasises. Because quantitatively seen, the CO2 emissions of logistics are still considerable.
Sustainability issues are major factors in THWS degree programmes
To further increase awareness for sustainable actions and change in the logistics sector, the future logistic experts of THWS are introduced to the topic of sustainability. Even though no incentives would be necessary as the interest of students would be very great from the beginning anyways, reports Professor Dr. Müller-Steinfahrt: "Students keep asking. Bachelor's and Master's theses on sustainability are highly popular." And also electives on the topic are attracting many participants. Professor Dr. Birgit Gampl confirms this trend: Sustainability topics are taking up more and more room in research and teaching. And thus regionality as well.
Click here to listen to the podcast "Sustainability in Logistics" (podcast in German/English transcript available)
