Environmental performance assessment of a provider of logistical services in an industrial supply chain

This paper presents a method for assessing environmental performance in industrial operations. The method was applied to three logistical operations in an industrial supply chain performed by a single operator: road transportation, warehousing, and urban transportation. Environmental performance was treated as a complex object and was structured according to the following five criteria: atmospheric emissions, liquid effluents, solid waste, natural and energy resources, and managerial and legal regulations. The first four criteria address a direct impact on the environment, whereas the last is a necessary condition for the first four to have a satisfactory performance. Six experts in environmental management prioritized the criteria and defined sets of indicators for the field appraisal. The indicators were expected to be correlated for the same criteria. The validity of the indicators was assessed through questionnaires answered by six managers of the operation. Finally, three overall indices corresponding to the environmental performance of the three logistical operations were calculated for the operations and were found to be 73.58, 79.21, and 76.28% (higher is better). These indicate good results because the maximum performance is expected to be 100%. This environmental performance assessment can aid in reformulating the environmental strategies embedded in the operational strategy of the company.

[1]  Johan Thoresen,et al.  Environmental performance evaluation — a tool for industrial improvement , 1999 .

[2]  T. Saaty.  Fundamentals of Decision Making and Priority Theory With the Analytic Hierarchy Process , 2000 .

[3]  L. J. Lozano,et al.  Life Cycle Assessment Analysis of Ethanol Production from Carob Pod. , 2010 .

[4]  Design for environment , 2013 .

[5]  Yung-Jaan Lee,et al.  SUSTAINABILITY INDEX FOR TAIPEI , 2007 .

[6]  O. Bina.  A critical review of the dominant lines of argumentation on the need for strategic environmental assessment , 2007 .

[7]  Thomas Zobel,et al.  Identification and assessment of environmental aspects in an EMS context: an approach to a new reproducible method based on LCA methodology , 2002 .

[8]  Jiří Jaromír Klemeš,et al.  Lca as Environmental Assessment Tool in Waste to Energy and Contribution to Occupational Health and Safety , 2008 .

[9]  Raffaella Manzini,et al.  Measuring strategic environmental performance , 1994 .

[10]  Raymond Houe Ngouna,et al.  Assessing the compliance of a product with an eco-label: from standards to constraints , 2009 .

[11]  Tomás B. Ramos,et al.  Developing and implementing an environmental performance index for the Portuguese military , 2006 .

[12]  Miriam Borchardt,et al.  Modelagem para avaliação de desempenho ambiental em operações de manufatura Modelling for environmental performance assessment in manufacturing operations , 2010 .

[13]  S. Nooteboom.  Impact assessment procedures for sustainable development: A complexity theory perspective , 2007 .

[14]  K. Richter,et al.  A production/recycling model with quality consideration , 2006 .

[15]  Daniel Tyteca,et al.  On the Measurement of the Environmental Performance of Firms— A Literature Review and a Productive Efficiency Perspective , 1996 .

[16]  Lorenz M. Hilty,et al.  Impact assessment and policy learning in the European Commission , 2008 .

[17]  F. D. Leeuw.  Criteria for evaluation of smog forecast systems , 2000 .

[18]  Miriam Borchardt,et al.  Environmental Performance Assessment in Transportation and Warehousing Operations by Means of Categorial Indicators and Multicriterial Preference , 2011 .

[19]  A. C. Tahir,et al.  Sustainability Indicators: Using the Process Analysis Method to Select Indicators for Assessing Production Operations , 2010 .

[20]  K. Eisenhardt.  Building theories from case study research , 1989, STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI.

[21]  Matthew Asa Cashmore,et al.  The role of science in environmental impact assessment: process and procedure versus purpose in the development of theory , 2004 .

[22]  E. Barbier.  The Concept of Sustainable Economic Development , 1987, Environmental Conservation.

[23]  T. V. Savitskaya,et al.  Methods and models for the risk analysis and security management of chemical plants , 2010 .

[24]  Jirí Jaromír Klemes,et al.  Making progress toward sustainability by using cleaner production technologies, improved design and economically sound operation of production facilities , 2005 .

[25]  Christian Mascle,et al.  Integrating environmental consciousness in product/process development based on life-cycle thinking , 2008 .

[26]  Marco Scotti,et al.  Ecological Footprint as a tool for local sustainability: The municipality of Piacenza (Italy) as a case study , 2009 .

[27]  K. Lai,et al.  Confirmation of a measurement model for green supply chain management practices implementation , 2008 .

[28]  Igor Bulatov,et al.  Integrating waste and renewable energy to reduce the carbon footprint of locally integrated energy sectors , 2008 .

[29]  L. Reijnders,et al.  Evaluating Environmental and Social Performance of Large Portuguese Companies: A Balanced Scorecard Approach , 2005 .

[30]  E. S. Buffa.  Research in Operations Management , 1980 .

[31]  L. Reijnders,et al.  Environmental performance evaluation and sustainability performance evaluation of organizations: an evolutionary framework , 2001 .

[32]  Agis M. Papadopoulos,et al.  Environmental performance evaluation of thermal insulation materials and its impact on the building , 2007 .

[33]  Christopher A. Voss,et al.  Case research in operations management , 2002 .

[34]  M. Jaber,et al.  The production, remanufacture and waste disposal model with lost sales , 2009 .

[35]  Sándor Kerekes,et al.  Evaluation of corporate environmental management approaches: A framework and application , 1996 .

[36]  D. Ochs,et al.  Life Cycle Analysis of Hydrogen Production from Biomass Fermentation , 2010 .

[37]  N. Polsby,et al.  Case Study and Theory in Political Science , 1975 .

[38]  Bopaya Bidanda,et al.  Modeling sustainable product lifecycle decision support systems , 2009 .

[39]  Víctor-Andrés Cloquell-Ballester,et al.  Indicators validation for the improvement of environmental and social impact quantitative assessment , 2006 .

[40]  Martin Bichler,et al.  Design science in information systems research , 2006, Wirtschaftsinf..

[41]  Antonio Bernardino de Almeida,et al.  Life Cycle Assessment of Soybean Biodiesel and LPG as Automotive Fuels in Portugal , 2010 .

[42]  Humberto Heluane,et al.  Water and wastewater eco-efficiency indicators for the sugar cane industry , 2009 .

[43]  Salvatore T. March,et al.  Design and natural science research on information technology , 1995, Decis. Support Syst..

[44]  Clair Gough,et al.  Integrated Assessment: an emerging methodology for complex issues , 1998 .

[45]  Måns Nilsson,et al.  Are impact assessment procedures actually promoting sustainable development? Institutional perspectives on barriers and opportunities found in the Swedish committee system , 2009 .

[46]  Mónica García-Melón,et al.  An environmental pressure index proposal for urban development planning based on the analytic network process , 2009 .

[47]  Jiří Jaromír Klemeš,et al.  Life Cycle Assessment and Multi-criteria Optimization of Regional Biomass and Bioenergy Supply Chains , 2011 .

[48]  K. Richter,et al.  An extended production/recycling model with stationary demand and return rates , 2004 .

[49]  Sahota Rk,et al.  It's all in the numbers. , 2009 .

[50]  Alan R. Hevner,et al.  Design Science in Information Systems Research , 2004, MIS Q..

[51]  Bram F. Noble,et al.  Strategic environmental assessment quality assurance: evaluating and improving the consistency of judgments in assessment panels , 2004 .

[52]  Viatcheslav Kafarov,et al.  Life Cycle Assessment for Joint Production of Biodiesel and Bioethanol from African Palm , 2010 .

[53]  Ferenc Friedler,et al.  Optimal design of supply chains by P-graph framework under uncertainties , 2011 .

[54]  Sime Curkovic,et al.  Total Quality Environmental Management and Total Cost Assessment: An exploratory study , 2007 .

[55]  A. Flysjö,et al.  Socioeconomic indicators as a complement to life cycle assessment—an application to salmon production systems , 2008 .

[56]  I. C. Cornforth,et al.  Selecting indicators for assessing sustainable land management , 1999 .

[57]  Warit Jawjit,et al.  Assessing environmental performance by combining life cycle assessment, multi-criteria analysis and environmental performance indicators , 2007 .

[58]  Olof Hjelm,et al.  The Connection Between Environmental Management Systems and Continual Environmental Performance Improvements , 2002 .

[59]  Carolien Kroeze,et al.  Modelling the environmental impact of an aluminium pressure die casting plant and options for control , 2008, Environ. Model. Softw..

[60]  D. Bryant,et al.  Environmental indicators : a systematic approach to measuring and reporting on environmental policy performance in the context of sustainable development , 1995 .

[61]  Jiří Jaromír Klemeš,et al.  Overview of Footprints and Relations Between Carbon and Nitrogen Footprints , 2011 .

[62]  John Pearson,et al.  Improving environmental performance through community action , 1999 .

[63]  R. M. Filho,et al.  Environmental and Economic Assessment of Bioethanol, Sugar and Bioelectricity Production from Sugarcane , 2011 .

[64]  T. Bernauer,et al.  Effects of political institutions on air quality , 2009 .

[65]  Jiří Jaromír Klemeš,et al.  Computer Analysis of Waste Utilization at the Leading Enterprises of Phosphoric Industry of Russia and Kazakhstan , 2010 .

[66]  A. Faaij,et al.  The economical and environmental performance of miscanthus and switchgrass production and supply chains in a European setting , 2009 .

[67]  A. Gerlak,et al.  It’s All in the Numbers: Acreage Tallies and Environmental Program Evaluation , 2007, Environmental management.