This paper investigates a bi-objective green hub location problem, in which multiple perishable products with various storage temperatures can be distributed simultaneously in a cold supply chain (CSC). The objectives of this problem include minimizing the system’s total cost (including transportation, hub establishment, adjustment of the storage compartments’ temperatures, and carbon emission costs) and maximizing the quality of the delivered product to the customer via the proposed model. Mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) in the GAMS software was employed to formulate this problem. Then, the ε-Constraint method was adopted to solve the presented bi-objective model to obtain the Pareto frontier and consequently, a numerical example based on the CAB (Civil Aeronautics Board) database is presented to validate the applicability of the model. The solutions of the model provide information regarding the hub location (HL), allocating customers to the hubs, allocating customers to the vehicles, and the sequence of vehicles’ services for the Multi Item-Multi Temperature Joint Distribution of perishable products in CSCs. Moreover, the final results revealed the existence of a contradictory exchange between the two objectives of this paper, implying that the higher is the quality of the delivered perishable product to the customer, the greater is the system’s total cost. The novelty of the proposed model compared to other hub location problems (HLPs) lies in the integration of the tactical/operational decisions with strategic decisions to provide logistic solutions in CSCs by considering the carbon emissions as an environmental factor in the transportation systems for the simultaneous distribution of dissimilar storage temperatures perishable products within a CSC. The proposed model in this research can help the distributers of perishable products by maintaining the quality of the delivered items and reducing the system’s total costs and considering the carbon emissions of transportation systems. This study has practical implications for the logistics and CSCs managers to not only establish a distribution network for multiple perishable products on the basis of the findings, but also respond to the environmental sustainability.
Keywords: Hub Location | Perishable Products | Cold Supply Chain | Transportation | Multi-objective

Since the production process in manufacturing industry is one of the main sources of carbon emissions, most governments have enacted relevant carbon policies to encourage manufacturers to invest in green production technology and reduce carbon emissions. However, the effectiveness of the carbon policy deserves further investigation because the manufacturers focus more on economic profits in actual operations. For this purpose, this paper proposes a dual-channel supply chain network (DCSCN) equilibrium model based on variational inequality theory to examine progressive carbon tax mechanism design of the government and its impacts on the production/pricing and abatement level decisions of the manufacturers in the DCSCN. In addition, this paper also examines the influences of the online channel introduction on supply chain network equilibrium decisions, carbon emissions and profits. We employ the modified projection and contraction algorithm to obtain the numerical solutions for several examples, and analyze the impacts of the key parameters on the equilibrium decisions and derive several managerial insights. The results show that if the government sets the high-level carbon tax and the cut-off value in progressive carbon tax policy appropriately, it can induce the manufacturers to improve abatement level actively; meanwhile the profit maximization goal of the manufacturer and the whole DCSCN can be consistent with the government’s low-carbon emission target. Moreover, the introduction of online channel may depress the economic activities and lead to profit loss for the supply chain network but contributes to reducing the carbon emissions under progressive carbon tax policy. The conclusions may be useful for reference in the study of the low-carbon supply chain and the design of carbon emission reduction policy for government.
Keywords: Dual-channel supply chain network | Progressive carbon tax | Product abatement level | Variational inequality theory

Milk packaging has been analysed multiple times in pursuit of finding the most appropriate vessel from an environmental point of view. Research has concentrated on commercially available containers of 0.5 –2.5 litres, usually made from High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), paper- based cartons, or glass, with some studies considering a reuse scheme for glass bottles. Whilst applicable for household delivery, such a reuse scheme is not practical for delivery to cafés where large volumes of milk are used every day; little information is known about transportation of bulk volumes of milk in bigger vessels such as steel churns. This study compares a proposed milk supply chain using a mix of reusable stainless steel churns and reusable glass bottles with the current supply chain that uses single- use HDPE bottles, for transportation of milk to 10 cafés belonging to The University of Sheffield. A cradle- to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) is conducted using data obtained from the university and Our Cow Molly, a local dairy farm which delivers milk to the university. Sensitivity analysis was performed around the recycling rate of plastic bottles, water consumption for churn cleaning, the reuse rate of glass bottles and churns and the source of the on-farm electricity. The study suggests that the greenhouse gas emission can be lowered by approx. 6.5 tons of CO2 equivalent annually if the reuse scheme is applied (this equates to a 65% reduction for the processes analysed). Considerable savings are also reported in cate- gories such as water consumption, fossil resources depletion and cumulative energy demand. The reuse scheme is, however, likely to induce a similar or higher mineral resource use and higher environmental damage in the marine eutrophication category due to water treatment. Production of plastic bottles in the plastic scenario and maintenance and transport on the reusable side are the main contributors to the environmental impact. Further improvements in the reuse scenario could be achieved by reducing the amount of water used for cleaning and hence the electricity demand for water heating. The reuse scheme could also benefit environmentally from using an electric refrigerated van instead of a diesel vehicle.© 2021 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Life cycle assessment | Milk | Reuse | Plastic | Impact assessment | Carbon footprint

Most existing life cycle assessment studies that have compared the sustainability of organic and conventional pork supply chains are environmental assessments. The economic and social sustainability dimensions of pork supply chains are currently under-researched. The study reported here was designed to assess the environmental, economic and social sustainability of conventional and organic pork in Sweden. Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment was undertaken using 20 indicators expressed per unit product (1000 kg pork fork weight) and per unit area (1000 ha of farmland) for the four main subsystems in pork supply chains: (1) farm and feed production, (2) slaughter, (3) wholesaling and retailing, and (4) consumption. The organic pork supply chain out-performed the conventional chain in 11 of the 20 indicators expressed per unit product and 18 of the 20 indicators expressed per unit area. It was therefore the more sustainable of the two chains in nearly all the indicators expressed per unit area. However, the organic supply chain was less sustainable in some of the indicators expressed per unit product because, more feed per kg of pork was required in organic pork production. Pig welfare improvement leads to higher production costs and environmental impacts. Assessment of all three sustainability dimensions – environmental, economic and social – helps to identify trade-offs between these three pillars of sustainability. However, the selection of indicators influences results, and obtaining environmental, economic and social data simultaneously is challenging.
Keywords: Life cycle sustainability assessment | Environmental life cycle assessment | Life cycle costing | Social life cycle assessment | Organic pork supply chain | Conventional pork supply chain

Circular bioeconomy represents a recent political vision expected to contribute in tackling the main challenges faced when sustainable industrial transition trajectories are to be implemented. Coordination and interdependence among actors are crucial steps for value creation when developing new sustainable supply chains. Current study is based on a choice experiment devised with contract design theory applied to a specific supply chain in which a circular bioeconomy strategy is implemented. It investigates the propensity of Sicilian millers to participate in a novel supply chain in which feedstuff is produced by processing a by-product, namely olive cake. Furthermore, millers contract attributes’ preferences are analysed. The results from two econometric models reveal that 71% of the interviewed entrepreneurs would participate in the proposed supply chain while the propensity to participate is positively related with firm size and millers’ attitudes but decreases if millers experienced previous investments or have previously participated in cooperatives. Moreover, respondents prefer shorter length of contract, with a minimum guarantee price, with a renegotiation option, and without the obligation of a minimum volume of product to be supplied. Contract agreements, when contract characteristics are designed ad hoc, are proved to be effective tools for circular bioeconomy supply-chain development.
Keywords: Circular bioeconomy | Supply chain management | Olive cake | Contract design