IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i11p4604-d367485.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Electronic Retail of Household Products

Author

Listed:
  • Jan Matuštík

    (Faculty of Environmental Technology, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Technická 5, 16000 Prague, Czech Republic)

  • Vladimír Kočí

    (Faculty of Environmental Technology, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Technická 5, 16000 Prague, Czech Republic
    Faculty of Architecture, Czech Technical University, 16000 Prague, Czech Republic)

Abstract

Electronic shopping is getting more and more popular, and it is not only clothes and electronics that people buy online, but groceries and household products too. Based on real-life data from a major cosmetics and household products retailer in the Czech Republic, this study set to assess the life cycle environmental impact of parcel delivery. Two archetype parcels containing common household and hygiene products were designed and packed in two distinct ways, and the environmental impact was quantified using the Life Cycle Assessment method. It showed that it is environmentally beneficial to use plastic cushions to insulate the goods instead of paper. However, the most important process contributing to the environmental burden was found to be electricity consumption in the logistics center. Hence, the importance of energy efficiency and efficient space utilization was demonstrated on alternative scenarios. Since the cardboard box the goods are packed in turned out to be another important contributor, an alternative scenario was designed where a reusable plastic crate was used instead. Even though the scenario was based on several simplistic assumptions, it showed a clear potential to be environmentally beneficial. In the study, contribution of other processes was scrutinized, as well as sensitivity to variation of parameters, e.g. transportation distances. The main scientific contribution of this work is to show the importance of logistics and distribution of products to end customers in the rapidly developing field of electronic retail of household products.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan Matuštík & Vladimír Kočí, 2020. "A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Electronic Retail of Household Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-13, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:11:p:4604-:d:367485
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/11/4604/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/11/4604/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter B. Crabb & Matthew P. Lessack, 2014. "Some Things Are Just Made to Be Littered," International Journal of Social Ecology and Sustainable Development (IJSESD), IGI Global, vol. 5(3), pages 39-47, July.
    2. Roland Hischier, 2018. "Car vs. Packaging—A First, Simple (Environmental) Sustainability Assessment of Our Changing Shopping Behaviour," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-12, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marcin Gąsior, 2021. "Environmental Attitudes and Willingness to Purchase Online—Classification Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-17, August.
    2. Heleen Buldeo Rai & Koen Mommens & Sara Verlinde & Cathy Macharis, 2019. "How Does Consumers’ Omnichannel Shopping Behaviour Translate into Travel and Transport Impacts? Case-Study of a Footwear Retailer in Belgium," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-19, May.
    3. Thorey S Thorisdottir & Lara Johannsdottir, 2020. "Corporate Social Responsibility Influencing Sustainability within the Fashion Industry. A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-64, November.
    4. Danni Zhang & Regina Frei & Gary Wills & Enrico Gerding & Steffen Bayer & Prince Kwame Senyo, 2023. "Strategies and practices to reduce the ecological impact of product returns: An environmental sustainability framework for multichannel retail," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7), pages 4636-4661, November.
    5. Viola Rühlin & Andrea Del Duce & Maike Scherrer, 2023. "The Impact of Spatial Aspects on the Supply Chain and Mobility Demand of Pharmaceutical Products in E-Commerce and Brick-and-Mortar Shopping," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-17, July.
    6. Buldeo Rai, Heleen, 2021. "The net environmental impact of online shopping, beyond the substitution bias," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    7. Britta Frommeyer & Julia Koch & Carla Scagnetti & Manuel Lorenz & Gerhard Schewe, 2024. "Recycled or reusable: A multi‐method assessment of eco‐friendly packaging in online retail," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 28(1), pages 100-115, February.
    8. Damian Dubisz & Paulina Golinska-Dawson & Przemysław Zawodny, 2022. "Measuring CO 2 Emissions in E-Commerce Deliveries: From Empirical Studies to a New Calculation Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-20, December.
    9. Mélanie Schmutz & Roland Hischier & Claudia Som, 2021. "Factors Allowing Users to Influence the Environmental Performance of Their T-Shirt," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-16, February.
    10. Bjørgen, Astrid & Bjerkan, Kristin Ystmark & Hjelkrem, Odd Andre, 2021. "E-groceries: Sustainable last mile distribution in city planning," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:11:p:4604-:d:367485. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.