Purpose

The importance of integrating sustainability into business activities rises continuously. In addition to an established focus on forward logistics, there is a growing awareness of reverse logistics. Reverse logistics ensures sustainable practices and increases competitiveness for companies, but it also comes with challenges. Therefore, the implementation of reverse logistics is associated with uncertainties. This paper aims to fill this gap by analyzing the development and comprehensive potential of reverse logistics as a sustainability tool.

Design/methodology/approach

To bridge the research gap, a real-time Delphi study was conducted. Through an extensive desk research, semi-structured interviews and an expert workshop, 14 projections for the German food sector of 2040 were created. A total of 49 experts in the field of logistics, reverse logistics and food logistics assessed the future projections concerning estimated probability, impact and desirability of occurrence.

Findings

The findings derived lead to three possible future scenarios as well as potential drivers and barriers that food companies, the government and society need to consider to enable a successful transition toward implementing reverse logistics in food supply chains.

Originality/value

The study examined the future role of reverse logistics as a sustainability tool in food supply chains. The results serve as a framework for decision-making on the sustainable orientation of business practices, leading to increased competitiveness and resilient business strategy. Several implications are derived for practitioners, policymakers and society to promote reverse logistics. Methodologically, this study extends existing Delphi methods by conducting a quantitative dissent and sentiment analysis, considering various surface-level and deep-level diversity characteristics.

中文翻译：

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逆向物流作为食品供应链可持续性工具的未来作用：基于德尔福的情景研究

目的

将可持续性融入商业活动的重要性不断上升。除了对正向物流的既定关注之外，人们对逆向物流的认识也在不断增强。逆向物流确保了可持续的做法并提高了公司的竞争力，但同时也带来了挑战。因此，逆向物流的实施具有不确定性。本文旨在通过分析逆向物流作为可持续发展工具的发展和综合潜力来填补这一空白。

设计/方法/方法

为了弥补研究差距，进行了实时德尔福研究。通过广泛的案头研究、半结构化访谈和专家研讨会，制定了 2040 年德国食品行业的 14 项预测。共有 49 位物流、逆向物流和食品物流领域的专家评估了有关发生概率、影响和可取性的未来预测。

发现

得出的研究结果导致了三种可能的未来情景，以及食品公司、政府和社会需要考虑的潜在驱动因素和障碍，以便成功过渡到在食品供应链中实施逆向物流。

原创性/价值

该研究考察了逆向物流作为食品供应链可持续发展工具的未来作用。结果可作为关于商业实践可持续方向的决策框架，从而提高竞争力和弹性商业战略。对于从业者、政策制定者和社会来说，促进逆向物流有几个意义。在方法论上，本研究通过进行定量的异议和情感分析扩展了现有的 Delphi 方法，同时考虑了各种表层和深层的多样性特征。