The Impact of E-commerce Last-mile Delivery on Environmental Sustainability

Along with the increasing number of people holding the tool of purchasing what they want online, logistics operation has become gradually prosperous in recent years. Here comes the serious problem of carbon emission during the delivery process. Although some countries have already paid attention to such a phenomenon, the issue of the extra release of carbon dioxide does not be resolved completely. This paper introduces and analyses the conditions of carbon dioxide emissions during the last-mile delivery and aims to analyze the switch of customer expectations and specific LMD processes. This work makes use of data collection, survey methods, and simulation to mainly get analysis on the topic. The results of the paper showcase that first delivery, return delivery, delayed delivery, and failed delivery all contributes much to the accumulation of carbon dioxide emissions while presenting solutions that have their own benefits and defects. The results invite people to reflect on solutions to improve the present situation on delivery and help to encourage people's initiatives of creating better living conditions for the next generation.