Green and Reverse Logistics in Conditions of Sustainable Development in Enterprises in Slovakia

Abstract

The high quality of the environment, protection of natural resources, efficient use of natural resources, and elimination of environmental burdens are the main priorities of sustainable development. Therefore, enterprises around the world have to manage the environment wisely, while avoiding negative effects on it. The aim of the paper was to examine the use of green and reverse logistics in the conditions of sustainable development in enterprises in Slovakia. The intention of the paper was to provide a theoretical overview of green and reverse logistics at home and abroad on the basis of the elaboration of a scientific bibliographic-information apparatus. Subsequent practical implementation of the questionnaire research and statistical verification of research results provides a basis for practical recommendations and conclusions for enterprises operating in Slovakia. The research topic of the paper was green and reverse logistics in companies in Slovakia. The research problem was the implementation and use of modern logistics under the influence of the environment. Based on these facts, statistical hypotheses were determined and subsequently tested. Descriptive statistics and inference statistics were used to interpret the research results. Based on the research, we found that the dominant position in green and reverse logistics in Slovakia was achieved by large production enterprises from the automotive industry, which operate in western Slovakia. The analysed enterprises in Slovakia use voluntary tools of environmental policy and the most important environmental tool is corporate social responsibility. Elements of environmental policy are used primarily in the logistics process of warehousing and storage. The biggest barrier in the implementation of elements of environmental logistics analysed by enterprises is the lack of financial resources. The implementation of green logistics and reverse logistics enables the analysed enterprises in Slovakia to improve customer-supplier relations. We can say that despite the government’s efforts, measures to minimize the environmental impact and growing public awareness of environmental issues, environmental problems persist. Initiatives can be seen at the global and national levels of enterprises that make quick decisions and set up new processes in environmental management.

Reverse logistics, organizational culture and firm operational performance: Some empirical evidence

“…The term has also been conceptualized by Rogers and Tibben-lembke (2001) as 'the process of planning, implementing, and controlling the efficient, cost effective flow of raw materials, in-process inventory, finished goods and related information from the point of consumption to the point of origin for the purpose of recapturing value or proper disposal ' (p. 129). Together with green logistics, RL has been increasingly perceived to be the condition for sustainable development (Alkahtani et al, 2021;Richnák & Gubová, 2021).…”

An integrated fuzzy sustainable supplier evaluation and selection framework for green supply chains in reverse logistics

“…RL is one of the key factors determining the success of SC sustainability (Wang et al 2021a, b, c, d). On the one hand, the worldwide existence of environmental pollution has increased the pressure on companies to consider sustainability in RL (Richnák and Gubová 2021). On the other hand, environmental protection has become a global issue (Daniels 2017), and concerns about environmental protection have stimulated researchers and practitioners to pay more attention to waste recycling.…”

Green Logistics Practices Seeking Development of Sustainability: Evidence from Lithuanian Transportation and Logistics Companies

“…In discussions of the scientific community [4,[7][8][9]12,17,18,22,23], it is agreed that the concept of sustainable development, which combines three main interrelated and complementary aspects-economic, environmental, and social-can also be implemented in logistic processes.…”

“…The clear link between the GL and sustainable development can be realized in areas such as green transportation, green warehousing, green packaging, green management, green logistics data collection and management, and waste management [12,15,17,18,25]. According to Karia and Asaari [26], green packaging is associated with economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable material use, packaging processes, and packaging recycling and reuse; green storage is understood as storage space, layout, and energy consumption optimization; green transportation includes green vehicles, contributing to the economic, environmental, and social sustainable development, the use of green management-GL strategic planning, control, monitoring, and evaluation in order to ensure coherence between economic, environmental, and social aspects; and GL collection and processing of data carried out using technologies such as management systems, software, and advanced information systems, allowing not only to improve the management but to reduce paper documents as well.…”

“…Most scientists [2,3,9] emphasize that sustainable development can be ensured by the active application of GL practices in business activities, transport, storage, and packaging. Studies on GL practices have been carried out in Germany, Italy, G. Britain [10], Sweden [11], Slovakia [12], China [13], Morocco [14], and Thailand [15]. The results of studies in different countries showed a wide variety of GL practices.…”