Grön logistik – utmaningar och lösningar hos norra Norrlands tillverkande företag

Abstract

The following qualitative study provides an overview of challenges and solutions concerning green logistics in order to meet increased environmental demands from institutions, customers and owners. The survey takes place in the northern part of Norrland in Sweden. As the foundation for the study, four interviews were conducted with large manufacturing companies in Umeå and Skellefteå municipalities. To complement the gathered data, a literary review also takes place in order to compare and contextualize the empirical results. In addition, a PESTanalysis is conducted to widen the perspective. In the empirical data, the main findings are two challenges connected to the implementation of green logistics: cost of implementation and lack of suppliers. The analysis partly identifies the reasons for these challenges where the key aspects are the following: The unwillingness to invest is a result of lack of incentives and limited pressure from customers and owners. The lack of green suppliers is most likely a result of poor infrastructure limiting the competitiveness and thus the available options, but also technical constraints related to the northern geography. The conclusion discusses transport subsidies as well as recommending strategic partnerships and environmental investments in order to overcome the challenges in question and meet the environmental demands of today and tomorrow.