A CRITICAL REVIEW OF SUSTAINABILITY PROJECTS WITHIN LAST MILE DELIVERY FROM AN ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract: E-commerce is a continuously growing business that has expanded over the recent years and more people are buying online instead of offline. With online shopping, the demand for home deliveries is increasing along with it. Last mile deliveries, which is the last part of the supply chain from business to customer, operate mainly in urban areas. Most deliveries use fossil fueled vehicles, and this is problematic for the environment, society and the economy. This leads to increasing congestion and air and noise pollution in the cities with serious effects on people and the planet. Sustainability projects within last mile delivery are very important to be able to reach a sustainable future and decrease the negative impacts of home deliveries. There are many projects done by companies, research facilities, local governments and other stakeholders to find better solutions. The present study of three sustainability projects within last mile delivery shows that it is very hard to estimate the sustainability performance within the last mile. This is because they have different starting points locally, are done for different types of deliveries and in different scales. If one would only look at the vehicle used for the projects, cargo bikes would have the least negative impact on the environment but to deliver in all scales and areas the conclusion is that one needs to look at different solutions. The study also shows that all projects are replicable in different areas, but some would require very large investments if replicated in other geographical areas.