A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Electronic Retail of Household Products

Jan Matuštík and Vladimír Kočí
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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

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 11, 1-13

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.

Keywords: electronic retail; life cycle assessment (LCA); packaging; environmental impact; household products; e-shop (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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