Transport operations in reusable package supply chains: The role of intermodality in reducing the environmental impact

Purpose of this paper: This paper aims to quantify the logistics and environmental impacts reduction associated to the use of intermodality for the delivery, collection, and transport processes of a closed-loop supply chain of reusable plastic crates for fruit and vegetable products. Design/methodology/approach: The adopted approach focus on the optimization of the transport process, minimizing the level of approximation in the input data. To validate the proposed approach a multi-scenario what-if analysis is performed according to the case study from the network of an Italian pooler operating in the retail supply chain on fruit and vegetable. Results are generated through a decision support tool that aids a data-driven assessment of the storage and distribution operations experienced by the reusable plastic crates. This tool imports the business case data instance, embeds a Geographic Information System (GIS), and implements an accounting functionality that quantifies the travelling distance, the environmental impacts (e.g., GHGs emissions) and the costs associated to the transport activities. Findings: We quantify the main categories of impacts among the set of accounted greenhouse gases emissions and the total transportation costs. Results showcase a total transportation costs reduction of the 11,7% in the proposed to-be scenario, while the number of kilograms of CO2Eq decreases by the 9,2%. Value: The original contribution of this paper lies on the research area of the investigation of closed loop supply chains (CLSC) performance in relationships with the sustainability topic. Moreover, differently from other approach to the evaluation of the environmental impacts (e.g. the LCA), this paper reduce the boundaries of the analysis to the transport process only, however focusing on the minimization of the level of data approximation while enhancing the reliability of the results. Practical implications: We illustrate an approach and a support-decision tool that allow the analysis and quantification of the costs, impacts and benefits resulting by the adoption of alternative modes of transport in a reusable packaging system. Therefore, practical implications involve helping managers of re-usable package pooling systems in the decision-making about the adoption of intermodality. Furthermore, the simulation tool may support fruit and vegetables producers in the decision-making process over the type of package network to implement.