Last logistics mile: an ecological challenge

The last logistics kilometer concerns the transport and delivery of products in urban areas. This often complex function is very expensive for businesses and the environment. How to tend around a last logistics kilometer both resilient and efficient? And how did Urban Cuisine take into account this data in the logistics chain of its products?

Logistics, the challenge of e-commerce sites

Growth e-commerce

In the past 30 years, electronic commerce has changed profoundly purchasing habits and distribution methods. With the health crisis, online sale has exploded worldwide, as well as meal delivery platforms. These new ways of consuming underline a substantive trend: that of a on demand company, a growing need for flexibility and free choice.

In his Balance sheet on e-commerce in 2022, the FEVAD (federation of e-commerce and distance selling) reports a turnover of 146.7 billion euros. And if sales of products on the web are down 7 %, this drop is not very significant, with regard to Bond of 33 % made between 2019 and 2021. In total, the sector represents 12.5 % of retail. If he has not become the norm, he meets a consumer requirement : be delivered home, as soon as possible.

Think the whole logistics chain

With the acceleration of electronic commerce, billions of goods are Created and transported Each year worldwide. For all these products, many actions must be carried out and repeated within three main stages: supply, production and distribution. This is called the Logistics management. Highly strategic function for a company, it pursues three objectives: optimize production, control costs and satisfy the customer.

THE Last logistics kilometer, at the end of the chain, concerns the flows of urban goods, as well as their delivery. It would represent 30 % of the total cost of routing, but also 20 % of road traffic in France. Its financial and ecological impact today pushes suppliers to find solutions To reorganize and reinvent their logistical operations.

Last logistics kilometer: environmental impact and solutions

What is the impact of the last logistics kilometer on the environment?

According to ADEME figures, the transport of goods would be responsible for 25 % of CO2 issued in town. When you know that 50 % of the diesel consumed in town is used for deliveries, and that once in two, the delivery man finds a closed door, there is something to wonder about the last logistics kilometer!

Its ecological impact is strongly linked to The emergence of fast delivery. For deliveries in 24 hours, or even D -Day, the service provider sends barely loaded trucks traveling more and more wide areas. An ecological nonsense! LHuman impact is also significant, with a race for speed in the sorting centers of e-commerce giants.

THE Free parcel feedback, especially offered in the textile sector, are a disaster for the environment. According to a study of Global Consumer Survey From Statista, the product return was almost normalized in Europe. In France, it concerns 39 % of online purchases! What double the carbon footprint Of a sector already responsible for a good part of the greenhouse gases in our cities.

What solutions to reduce the carbon footprint of goods flows in our cities?

According to an OpinionWay study carried out for Generix Group And the Institute of Commerce, 87 % of French people say they are interested in a Green delivery. Many logistics players have seized the subject, aware of theenvironmental emergency. 

Some e-merchants display the ecological impact of the order black on white or offer their customers to Compensate for carbon emissions related to the delivery of their online purchases. A solution that has its limits, since it has the Ecological cost responsibility to the consumer. 

So what other solutions to reduce the ecological footprint of the last logistical kilometer?

• There bike delivery is an increasingly widespread track in our cities. Cargos, twofzing bikes and scooters can transport up to 100 kg of foodstuffs. Cyclo-logistics does not concern the larger goods, but has many advantages, especially in terms of costs and ease of execution.
  
  
• THE Electric utility vehicles are also an effective way to deliver in town while reducing your carbon emissions. Silent, they do not generate noise pollution.
  
  
• Delivery can also be based on collaborative models. By taking advantage of the daily journeys of the inhabitants, it is possible to recreate a link, while avoiding carbon trips.
  
  
• THE lockers, these free access instructions that have spread in recent years, could also respond to this issue. Nevertheless, if the customer does not come to recover his package in time, he is returned to the sender, which garnered new trips.
  
  
• Another solution: create distribution centers Near stations or on industrial wasteland. Then, it's about taking over with lasting transport!

What promote the emergence of resilient logistical solutions on the last logistical kilometer.

The Urban Cuisine case: how we take into account the last logistics kilometer

Discount logistics downstream

Since its inception, Urban Cuisine has been engaged in a eco-responsible design of its products. The vegetable vegetable patch, 100 % made in France, is made from local and durable materials. Crop clods, designed in a French horticultural laboratory, do not contain No chemical fertilizer. To design, assemble and transport our products, we have chosen French partners, concentrated in the West. A good way to Reduce ecological impact of our trips and those of our products!

Packaging is also one of our pillars to Reduce the carbon footprint of our logistics downstream. At the start of the Urban Cuisine adventure, our crop clods were wrapped separately, in very aesthetic small boxes. They were shipped in a large box. One day, one of our customers asked us if she could send us the packaging to reuse them. They were like new, and it seemed unfortunate to throw them away, even if they were recyclable. It made us think a lot!

With our partner, we looked at the question to offer a unique box, whether you ordered 4, 6 or 8 clods. A simple cardboard wedge separates the clods, wrapped in biodegradable tissue paper. We have RBuilt by three the size of the overall packaging, and therefore its financial and environmental cost.

Delivery and short circuit

Today, our crop clods are delivered with La Poste, the only logistician who transports parcels throughout France, without intermediary. The group is engaged in a process of Zero carbon delivery, with one of the largest electric fleets in the world. Compared to conventional thermal vehicles, it is 90 % less CO2 emissions ! To avoid additional trips, La Poste pools journeys for the distribution of mail.

For the vegetable vegetable patch, we also planned to go through this logistics provider. Very laborious tests, linked to the weight of the vegetable garden, forced us to Go through a multimodal carrier. This choice, we also do it because it responds to a Optimal experience for our customers, which receive a product already mounted and ready to be installed. We do not exclude, in the long term, the solution of Cargos bikes for delivery in the heart of the city.

Discover the vegetable vegetable

The last logistics kilometer is a background subject that should see new solutions emerge in the coming years. Let us conclude by saying that the vegetable vegetable patch alone is a response to the environmental costs of the last logistical kilometer. By collecting your own aromatic fruits, vegetables and herbs, you participate in reducing the entire delivery chain of these products, transported to warehouses or supermarkets. You enter the shortest of short circuits, producing directly at home.