Fashion Industry Logistics And Its Environmental Impacts

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Fashion Industry logistics and Its Environmental Impacts

Solistica, (2020), Describes Logistics as not being known for high levels of sustainability, the logistics part of the fashion industry is also a grey area in ecological soundness. Straight from packaging to the transport systems used are not environmentally friendly. The commercial activity of transporting clothes from the source to the customer involves the use of cargo ships, planes, and trucks which are environmental pollutants. The prime concern is the pollution of the atmosphere and water through emissions by vessels used in the transportation of clothes. This essay not only gives evidence-based knowledge on the environmental impacts of the fashion industry’s logistics operations but also provides ways through which these effects can be mitigated.

Dangers Posed by the Logistics Operations to The Environment

Before hopping onto the transport system used, The packaging of clothes is also a huge environmental hazard. As cited by Marshal (2018), the packaging our clothes are contained and sold in contributes largely to the physical pollution around the planet. Clothes after manufacture are each put in separate polythene bags to prevent dirt and moisture and are further put into larger polythene cases in bales. When they get to the retailer and then to the customer the wrappings are removed and are not recyclable. Polythene is a non-biodegradable material and leads to a lot of environmental pollution, the longer and more extensive use of polythene packaging of clothes the more environmental pollution.

The bales are also transported on wooden pallets. These pallets are made of wood as raw material and once they are used they are not reused nor recycled for transportation instead they are disposed of as they get exposed to moisture and air they get ruined. This means that the pallets used during loading the clothes are a product of deforestation. The more the pallets get used the more trees get cut down meaning more environmental degradation.

Transport vehicles emit greenhouse gases which are catastrophic to the environment. According to research done by Map Transport SA, MTSA (2018), Transport and road traffic, in particular, produce fine particles that pollute the outside air. The pollution into the air by these gases is not only dangerous but also a hazard to human life as they are carcinogenic and they diminish the quality of the air (MTSA, 2018). The pollution is also experienced in the oceans as well as clothes are imported from overseas. They are a hazard to aquatic life and kill aquatic life.

A continuing trend in unsustainable Logistics.

Certain trends in the supply chain facilitate the growth in Environmental pollution. One, the carbon emission through the vessels of transportation of clothes is on a high and keeps rising. Growth of demand and technological advancement has led to an increase in production and demand for clothes. This has created a larger need for advanced and intensive supply chain operations. Developments made in technology, mass consumption, and shortening product life cycles have boosted production and led to new concepts in logistics within the fashion industry, (Choi 2015). Growth and expansion in the supply chain mean more activity and involvement of transport vehicles.

Growth in the industry and globalization of the industry is growing and this imposes an increase in empty miles covered. His simply means that more vehicles travel to deliver the clothes and return empty. Often vehicles return empty after delivering materials and this trend means more carbon emission which is unnecessary. This is a form of unsustainable supply chain management that causes more pollution and is also costly for the company involved in the logistics as the unnecessary movement of vehicles is not tracked and mitigations are not put in place.

Constant demand and improper measures in dealing with demand lead to low maximization of loads. This lack maximization of loads per travel is not regulated meaning many purchases are being made causing more transportation to be used at a given time. This again leads to more carbon emission by the transport vehicles by the hour.

High consumption of Energy

The use of vehicles amounts to large consumption of global energy which is a major environmental concern. Transportation currently amounts to half the global consumption of oil and almost 20% of the global consumption of energy and close to 40% is related to urban transportation ( Solistica, 2020). This is concerning the growing trends in the fashion industry and technological advancements such as the introduction of online shopping which contributed to the rise in need of effective transportation could increase the energy consumption by transport vehicles globally.

Mitigation measures to be put in place

These environmental effects presented by transport logistics in the cloth industries can be reduced by applying green logistics as well as using reverse logistics programs.

Green Logistics. These are policies that champion alternative routes to logistics transportation systems and the implementation of mechanisms that reduce environmental pollution. the configuration of processes, structures, systems, and equipment used in the transportation, distribution, and warehousing of goods, (Solistica, 2020).

Making Sustainable Supply Chain Management implementations; This can be achieved by reducing cost and maximizing efficiency through the following ways; optimizing routes, tracking empty miles, maximizing product loads per shipment, using plastic pallets to make transportation more sustainable, and reducing the need for wooden pallets hence reducing the stress of using timber.

Implementing Reverse Logistics. Reverse logistics is a type of supply chain that moves goods from customers back to the sellers or manufacturers. Once a customer receives a product, processes such as returns or recycling require reverse logistics (Jenkins 2021). This means making the clothes more recyclable and take back to the manufacturer for more processing. This reduces the environmental stress the industry has by reducing the amount of raw material, reducing the product cost and process, and also acts as a means of sustainable supply chain management.

A company like Adidas launched a Reverse Logistics program in Brazil influenced by the issue of environmental degradation (Choi, 2015). This plan is effective in reducing the impact of the fashion and clothing industry on the environment by offering a sustainable option to low consumption of raw material and advanced implementation of product recyclability.

Conclusion

The fashion industry presents a lot of environmental issues when it comes to ecological sustainability in its logistics department and this inherently becomes one disadvantage in managing the industry. The logistics operations of the industry cause major environmental hazards but these can be mitigated by implementing sustainable supply chain management.

References

Choi, T. (2015). Springer series in Supply Chain Management. (n.d.). http://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/33771/1/162.Tsan-Ming%20Choi.pdf.

Marshal D. (2018). How The Textile Supply Chain is Harming The Environment. Immago. https://immago.com/textile-supply-chain-harming-environment/Solistica (2020). How Does Logistics Help The Environment. Solistica. https://blog.solistica.com/en/how-does-logistics-help-the-environmentJenkins A. (2021). A Guide to Reverse Logistics: How It Works, Types and Strategies. Oracle. https://www.netsuite.com/portal/resource/articles/inventory-management/reverse-logistics.shtml

SA, M. A. P. T. (2018, September 3). The environmental impacts in Logistics Transportation. MAP Transport S.A.

https://maptransport.com/en/2018/09/03/the-environmental-impacts-in-logistics-transportation/#:~:text=The%20logistics%20transportation%20emits%20high,that%20pollute%20the%20outside%20air.&text=These%20pollutants%20due%20to%20road,water%20reserves%20of%20the%20planet.