Effective technologies and practices for reducing pollution in warehouses - A review

This article examines the challenges of implementing the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals 2050 green initiative for warehouse management and operation and highlights a gap in the literature on specific strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pollution in warehousing and logistics operations. A four-step review process was used to analyze 75 recent research articles on environmental sustainability, smart energy consumption and warehouse green practices. Warehouse building configuration and operation were reviewed to identify critical environmental issues, along with green industrial building legislation in the European Union, the United States and Asia. This study found that increasing warehouse construction and renovations are worsening pollution and industrial waste production, while space demand in the United States will reach 560 × 106 by 2025. Findings showed that packaging waste from warehouses accounted for 12% of the 146.1 × 106 t of municipal solid waste in the United States landfills in 2018 and the industry's growth is increasing indoor and outdoor air pollution. Warehouses' energy consumption is also worsening due to their energy needs. This article proposes green warehouse practices and technologies as potential solutions to mitigate the environmental effects of the industry's growth. Legislation is needed to solve many warehousing issues as global e-commerce grows for better consumer accountability demands and efficiency gains.