Going green: green warehousing in selected food retail enterprises in Durban, South Africa.

Abstract

The processes utilised in food retail warehouses have various negative impacts on the environment such as air and land pollution arising from distribution and in-house activities. The search for new technologies that can mitigate these impacts is gaining traction in the business world. However, the implementation of green warehousing strategies has several implications. Research on the effects of such strategies will promote informed decision-making on sustainable practices and enable the identification of green technology’s contribution to sustainable development. This study examined the technology, distribution and operations gaps in selected food retail industries. Its objectives were to identify the challenges confronting green retail warehousing operations in this industry and assess retail warehousing distribution practices and how retailers enhance eco-friendly environmental logistics as well as measure how innovative technology influences the adoption of green warehouse operations. This involved identification of the types of vehicles and modes of transport utilised. The warehouse management systems employed in the selected companies were also assessed in order to determine their contribution to the organisations’ willingness to innovate. Energy-efficient measures were examined to highlight new processes to reduce emissions in the warehouse. An exploratory, descriptive research design was employed and a qualitative approach was adopted. Data was gathered by means of interviews with nine participants and thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The results show that many food retail companies have not fully integrated green practices and that the manual processes in place pose a threat to the environment. Based on the findings, green implementation is recommended to sustain the environment as well as simplify in-house practices.