Logistics and the waste sector: a London case study

London has traditionally exported most of its waste to former mineral workings in surrounding counties for landfill. Many of these sites are being filled and opportunities for new sites are limited. Virtually all waste reprocessing and recycling facilities, with the exception of textile sorting and some facilities for glass and organic waste composting, are outside London. The Mayor of London's Vision for Waste in London is that by 2020, municipal waste should not compromise London’s future as a sustainable city. This will involve managing waste better, so that its impact on the local and global environment and on London communities, economy and health is minimised. The majority of waste and recyclable materials in London are currently collected and transported for recovery, disposal or reprocessing by road in large vehicles. Environmental costs include, adding to congestion, noise, energy usage, air pollution, and accidents. The Mayor is keen to increase recycling and reuse of waste materials in London, and to ensure that as more of London's waste is diverted away from landfill sites to recycling facilities. Several projects and initiatives have been established and these are reviewed in the paper.

Literature Review WM9: Part II - light goods vehicles in urban areas, carried as as part Work Module 1, Green Logistics Project

LGVs are of ever-greater importance in terms of the final delivery of many time-critical, high value goods and are also widely used in industries that provide a wide range of critical support services. There are almost five times as many LGVs as there are HGVs (goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight) currently licensed in Britain. The LGV fleet in Britain is growing at a faster rate than the HGV fleet, and the LGV fleet travels more than twice as many vehicle kilometres each year than the total HGV fleet. LGVs perform a far greater proportion of their total distance travelled in urban areas than HGVs, and consume 25% of the total diesel and 3% of the total petrol used by all motorised road transport vehicles in Britain.

Literature Review WM9: Part I - urban freight transport, carried out as part of Work Module 1, Green Logistics Project

The review illustrates the importance of road movements in goods distribution in urban areas. It highlights the major economic, environmental and social impacts associated with this freight activity and reviews policy options available to those responsible for regulation. A wide range of possible solutions to problems posed by urban freight operations are also covered including approaches related to: consolidation, facilities, vehicle design, information capture and utilisation, and non-road modes.

Logistics implications of the UK packaging waste regulations

This paper examines the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations introduced by the UK Government in 1997. The impact that these Regulations will have on the levels of freight transport activity associated with the collection and redistribution of packaging waste to recovery/recycling facilities is calculated. Findings indicate that the Regulations will lead to a 14% increase in freight vehicle kilometres attributable to packaging waste. The extent to which greater use of reusable containers could help to reduce packaging waste-related transport activity is also modelled. Details arc given of how businesses are responding to the Regulations and how some companies are adapting their logistics systems to incorporate the recovery and recycling of packaging waste as well as replacing disposal packaging with reusable containers. Interviews and case-study material carried out as part of the research are used to support this discussion.