Introduction
With the expansion in the number of people using e-commerce, the variety of items accessible, and the capacity to compare costs, buyers have developed and now always want sustainable or green e-commerce. Ingaldi and Ulewicz (2019) established that building a company brand is more important than ever since customers want to be associated with sustainable brands. This allows businesses to develop long-lasting connections with clients and lowers obstacles that e-commerce enterprises still need to surmount (Song et al., 2019). The internet has altered merchants’ and customers’ business perspectives. One may purchase commodities in the car, at home, at the office, or on the train, and the products will be delivered to the door, saving time and providing further convenience. Despite the detrimental effects of pollution and carbon dioxide emissions on the environment, buyers and sellers may compare prices on websites in other nations (Oláh et al., 2018). Consequently, trade-offs are necessary to guarantee that the beneficial effects of shopping exceed the unfavourable impact they might have on the environment. One cannot discuss the continued and fast expansion of e-commerce without discussing its sustainability.
According to Oláh et al. (2018), given the global presence of e-commerce enterprises, it is vital to guarantee that their operations do not endanger the global environment. Approximately 80% of Chinese citizens are worried about global warming, and therefore the government must safeguard the environment, prevent environmental degradation, and preserve human survival. Failure to guarantee sustainable development has severe repercussions that might result in the loss of ecosystems. Therefore, businesses must include user-friendly characteristics that ease consumer connections. The expansion of e-commerce has contributed to an increase in the number of items delivered to clients, which has increased CO2 emissions and urban traffic congestion. Approximately 61% of all e-commerce shipments are from business-to-consumer, leading to increased environmental impact (Ingaldi and Ulewicz, 2019). As the number of online buyers and sellers continues to expand, this is not anticipated to occur anytime soon. Every day, new internet companies are created, resulting in increasing demands for the delivery of products, which, if not managed, may cause environmental harm.
According to Song et al. (2019), significant emissions contribute to environmental deterioration, impacting the ecosystem and its people. Therefore, the e-commerce industry should prioritise environmental conservation by placing pressure on logistics service providers to cut cost-based rates and bolstering their businesses by providing alternative transportation options wherever available. The primary objective of retailers is to generate profit and revenue based on economic advantages. This may be accomplished via potential economic, environmental, and social sacrifices, yielding more significant benefits (Cao et al., 2018). However, businesses and nations can only achieve sustainable economic progress at the expense of the environment.
This study’s primary objective is to examine ways to combine various elements of e-commerce to make it more sustainable by maximising the advantages for sellers, customers, and the environment. This study provides novel contributions by examining socioeconomic trade-offs. The paper highlights further that the benefits of e-commerce and sustainable development outweigh their drawbacks; it offers consumers, governments, politicians, and merchants the go-ahead to make better suggestions. With this in mind, this report exerted considerable effort to identify how e-commerce can be used as a sustainable development and environmental preservation tool by addressing significant issues like pollution, labour unrest, and growing manufacturing prices.
E-commerce and sustainable development
Awareness of the need for sustainable development
Kiba-Janiak et al. (2018) proclaimed that due to increased internet penetration and an abundance of mobile consumers, e-commerce is expanding exponentially, with 42% of current consumers shopping online. Globally, e-commerce is increasing and outperforming expectations by a factor of three. The usage of cell phones that cost less than a few years ago makes this possible. However, this provides a significant problem for marketers who must adapt to customers’ ever-changing wants. In addition, the challenges of ferrying products from one place to the subsequent increases harmful environmental effects on the community. The issue is worst when some products are returned to the client for failing to meet their demand or description (Amornkitvikai et al., 2022). Most customers are conscious of the need to avoid the issue and ask e-commerce businesses to embrace sustainable alternatives. This presents an excellent chance for businesses to promote sustainable e-commerce in the future by pursuing sustainability in three dimensions: social, economic, and environmental, as shown in figure 1 below.
According to Lv et al. (2020), globally, internet shopping hastens the loss of natural resources, such as the enormous quantity of packed trash that can only be disposed of in landfills. E-commerce enterprises must create green and sustainable strategy choices that are more helpful to humans and the earth. Providing a pair of sunglasses with the furniture may not be ecologically responsible. One of the simplest methods to make e-commerce a sustainable sector is utilising environmentally friendly products and reducing packaging by about 30% to reduce physical pollution (Cao et al., 2018). It is hardly a secret that fast fashion, or the quick turnover of apparel, has adverse environmental effects. The fashion business is responsible for landfills filled with barely used clothing, seas loaded with microplastics discharged from synthetic materials, global industrial wastewater pollution (20%), and global carbon emissions (10%).
The impact of consumers towards sustainable development
Amornkitvikai et al. (2022) argued that since customers pay increasing attention to local and sustainable fashion, merchants must demonstrate their adaptability. In this more rational world, retailers that can show that they adhere to new, more ethical customer standards will be able to prosper. Being local does not need having a business on clients’ corners, but instead making them feel like they are a part of their community. On the other hand, Escursell et al. (2021) established that localising digital presence is more crucial than ever before. Since a business has an 80% chance of succeeding compared to undigitised stores. Localisation for e-commerce begins with the product itself. This entails ensuring that the fashion offerings have local appeal. Local climate and culture may impact the client’s requirements, and market-specific standard sizes may differ. To choose what to sell, merchants must deeply understand their target market. Local SEO searches are beneficial. Knowing the search phrases clients use will assist them in locating the business premises and informing the company of their priorities.
Collaboration to create sustainable e-commerce
Economic sectors that need to collaborate to protect the environment
D’Adamo et al. (2021) highlighted that to preserve a healthy environment, manufacturing businesses, logistics service providers, retailers, and customers must collaborate to offer sustainable e-commerce solutions for decreasing production, packing, shipping, and returns. Consolidation minimises operating expenses and freight (by about 20%), transport, and recycling costs, benefiting all parties involved in the economy. With this strategy, the internet company operates sustainably. Proper packing decreases loses, simplifies delivery, and minimises the usage of packaging, and buyers are ready to pay a premium for commodities from environmentally conscious businesses. Cheba et al. (2021) also noted that it minimises greenhouse gas emissions by 35% and significantly mitigates global warming when properly packed. The protection of the environment is everyone’s duty. This cannot be left to the entire discretion of corporations, whose primary goal is to create employment, maximise profits, and safeguard the environment while considering consumer and societal requirements.
The role of internet on sustainable development
On the other hand, Cheba et al. (2021) mentioned that internet business (e-commerce) depends on the internet’s expansion and use. The internet is a link of computer devices that utilise a public or private network to support, among other things, communication, commerce, and money transfers. In the early 1990s, amazon founded the internet (worldwide internet) and started using it for product sales. Gao and Liu (2020) proclaimed that electronic commerce encompasses all electronic interactions between a business and other parties with interest. For example, customers may place orders over the internet, and corporations may outsource delivery to third-party logistics service providers. The internet has provided various benefits to e-commerce as it has increased the industry’s competitiveness: It is advantageous for merchants and customers since it offers a variety of items and services. E-support and e-services of vendors on online business platforms enable consumers to submit concerns and obtain feedback immediately (Kitonsa and Kruglikov, 2018). Communication between companies and customers is feasible due to the ever-changing nature of consumer requirements. The internet has made a tremendous quantity of reliable, fast, and inexpensive information accessible for comparison, or free commerce, with no market entry barriers. It gives clients a highly tailored service based on their previous purchase history.
Gao and Liu (2020) established that B2C is expanding consistently and quickly, but it is impacted by the distribution channels used to deliver products to customers once an order has been made. In addition, it has a substantial distribution burden (48%), defined by significant hardware and software expenditures and the requirement to raise customer awareness. To maintain and attract new customers, businesses must pay greater attention to customer relationship management to satisfy consumer demands for quicker and more efficient service. The service must be of superior calibre and accuracy, culminating in successful delivery. Arora (2019) proclaimed that businesses and consumers could evaluate the carbon reduction efforts of enterprises that manufacture environmentally friendly goods and those with reduced profit margins. It is also supported by research on optimum carbon reduction by 10% and revenue reduction tactics, promoting sustainable e-commerce by generating environmentally friendly items and a safe living environment for enterprises, customers, and others (D’Adamo et al., 2021). It is essential to maintain a balance between the growth of e-commerce businesses and their adverse effects on society and the environment to prevent pollution’s harmful effects.
Sustainability dimensions in e-commerce
Economic, environmental and social dimensions
According to Sun and Yao (2022), businesses, consumers, and society all adhere to standards for sustainable development, which are gaining importance across the globe. Stakeholders can only focus on one component since evaluating consumer views of a purchase requires considering all three aspects of sustainability and the trade-offs between immediate and long-term advantages. Society, enterprises, logistics service providers, and consumers should work towards achieving sustainable development results while enhancing their overall social, financial, environmental, and economic performance (Gee et al., 2020). Unfortunately, there is no universally accepted method for integrating sustainable e-commerce into company planning, and here is where trade-offs become crucial. Different firms find it challenging to execute the plan in other nations since each country has its legislation. Therefore, governments and businesses must collaborate to produce internationally applicable rules that are standardised. Sustainability is an efficient method for companies to stay competitive in the online economy and attract and keep more customers (Sun et al., 2021). Simultaneously, it enhances performance, efficiency, and effectiveness, reduces resource consumption and costs and helps society by delivering the highest quality, most minor destructive goods and services. The above is achievable only if e-commerce continues to expand with a rise in air pollution, which should be addressed via education.
Oláh et al. (2018) proclaimed that to attract and maintain consumers globally, businesses must evaluate their operations’ corporate, environmental, social, and economic sustainability. “The main objective of sustainable development is to assess whether the requirements and effects of humans are balanced with the productive and regenerative capacity of ecosystems,” according to the concept of sustainable development. It also ensures that natural resources are conserved for future generations (Rita and Ramos, 2022). Environmentally friendly items are manufactured by businesses and sold by merchants. There is no universal definition of sustainability; its meaning varies in the context. The ecological component of sustainable ecology requires sustainable development. There are two strategies to develop sustainable e-commerce technological innovation. This may have beneficial or dire consequences, but the benefits should always exceed the drawbacks. First, it may contribute to economic growth and environmental sustainability; secondly, it might severely harm the industry, threatening livelihoods and ecological sustainability (Berglund and Svanteson, 2018).
Impacts of innovations on sustainability
According to Rita and Ramos (2022), the discovery processes suggests that sustainable, innovative progress in the assembly industry can contribute to significant economic benefits like improved trade balance and increased profitability; social benefits such as financial considerations, gender empowerment, new jobs, and poverty reduction; and environmental benefits such as reduced emissions of ozone-depleting substances, improvement of air quality, and reduction in the use of packaging materials. Here, trade-offs are made to achieve both mitigation and positive effect. Nonetheless, these innovations may have negative economic (such as high costs, poor efficiency, and low product demand) and social (such as general welfare issues, unemployment, greater poverty, and gender imbalance), and environmental (such as ecological, negative impact on biota, and water pollution in nearby areas) consequences (Sun and Yao, 2022). If managed sustainably, it has beneficial effects. To accomplish reasonable social, environmental, and economic solutions via technical advancements, it is necessary to develop an integrated strategic strategy that tackles both negative and positive outcomes of sustainable e-commerce. This objective has yet to be reached due to a lack of knowledge and policy. In addition, ecologically friendly practices, IS consistency, and environmental performance that would lead to harmonisation and mitigation still need to be improved.
Ignat and Chankov (2020) highlighted that methods are available for mitigating the trade-offs associated with breakthrough e-commerce systems. For instance, allocating resources to training, implementing functional labour management, establishing a social security framework, distributing wealth to open unemployment protection systems, and establishing sufficient job security can be beneficial responses to economic/social trade-offs that boost revenue and decrease job losses resulting from these trade-offs. The final result is an economic/environmental strategy that promotes mutually advantageous and necessary activities to prevent the escalation of environmental concerns associated with online shopping malls’ environmental features. Brüel Grönberg and Hulthén (2022) added that sustainability methods might also play a significant role in ensuring that technology advancement in the assembly sector supports social, environmental, and economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability. Creating a suitable development plan remains a formidable obstacle for web admins and users. Sustainable e-commerce development is achieved by reducing trade-offs and optimising social, environmental, and economic metrics.
Innovation and technology
Zhang et al. (2019) innovations in technology have a favourable influence on employment and the effectiveness and efficiency of manufacturing processes. This is because there is a significant demand for job creation when new green goods are created at a reduced cost. Alternatively, the usage of modern technology might result in stress-related disorders. Using high-quality, reusable packaging materials is also beneficial for the environment. However, the noise generated by the operation of these devices might create health issues. Therefore, a balance must be established to ensure that the long-term benefits exceed the negatives.
On the other hand, Berglund and Svanteson (2018) argued that the move from negative energy to active renewable energy is a significant challenge. However, it has also been stressed that the usage of renewable energy has had a generally beneficial impact by allowing communities to use solar energy, biogas, and better cookstoves. However, this continues to pose concerns regarding CO2 emissions, which would smother the ecosystem if uncontrolled.
The role of policies and tradeoffs towards sustainable development
Gee et al. (2020) proclaimed that in a plan for environmental, economic, or social sustainability for e-commerce enterprises, it is crucial to design regulations that support the fewest trade-offs and most significant benefits. Policies must be established with transparency and continuous assessment of all choices to safeguard the economy from environmental deterioration and maintain a sustainable society. Governments can work with professionals, academics, and e-retailers to ensure that these suggestions are followed at the market, society, government, sector, and economy levels. Industrial Symbiosis (IS), which strives to build an efficient and successful social, environmental, and economic balance at all industrial levels, is an alternative perspective (Sun et al., 2021). This guarantees that resources are shared equitably, that businesses run efficiently and effectively, that the environment is conserved and regenerated for future use, and that consumers have access to socially green goods and services that do not threaten their lives.
E-commerce and environmental preservation
Government support for a green economy
Ignat and Chankov (2020) highlighted that sustainability consciousness is crucial in e-commerce. Researchers and practitioners are interested in the environmental consciousness of online shopping malls and the steps that may be taken to accommodate environmentally conscientious consumers. All components are interdependent, and businesses cannot concentrate on one while disregarding the others. Environmental issues include materials packaging, CO2 emissions, natural resources, and soil and water contamination (D’Adamo et al., 2021). Companies must guarantee that their operations do not deplete or destroy natural resources. Managing manufacturing processes, goods, and services ensures that no living beings are damaged before, during, or after the product’s usage, hence preserving life.
Amornkitvikai et al. (2022) argued that supporting green products and the environment benefits the health of e-commerce customers who are committed to sustainability. Consequently, customer happiness and consumer confidence are enhanced. According to previous research, the emergence and growth of e-commerce may have both harmful and good environmental consequences. For instance, if a customer orders with a different firm, the company must coordinate a single delivery with the logistics service provider to decrease expenses. However, research indicates that transportation may negatively affect the environment by increasing pollution, emissions, and congestion Lahkani et al. (2020). In addition, businesses using single-return packing have shown an increase in delivery and returns. By planning and using the most effective delivery methods, as well as collaborating by arranging all shipments in the same direction in the same unit and delivering them quickly through alternative transportation systems, the majority of the adverse effects may be mitigated.
According to Lakhani et al. (2020), the impacts of cities on the environment will continue to increase with the expansion of e-commerce unless customers exert more pressure on businesses to follow environmental rules and reduce delivery times. This strategy produces more sustainable solutions for e-commerce company growth to maximise economies of scale. Companies might learn from the distribution systems used in other nations. Sainsbury’s is switching its fleet to electric vans in the United Kingdom, whereas China uses e-bikes for short-distance transportation. It is also feasible to deliver packages in urban areas utilising non-CO2-emitting modes of transportation, such as public transportation like trams. This has potential environmental and social advantages. Turning adverse effects into positive ones promotes e-commerce and environmental sustainability.
Corporate role towards sustainable development
Siragusa et al. (2022) The definition of economic sustainability is how a business should preserve existing resources to maximise revenues and assure good returns for stakeholders. Hence, companies should prioritise long-term and short-term objectives to ensure consumers are pleased with the purchased products and get value for their money. To do this, merchants must spend on social media to influence customer behaviour and desires for direct input. The economic component also needs businesses to manufacture high-quality goods and services at the lowest possible cost and to package them in reusable containers to prevent environmental pollution (Amornkitvikai et al., 2022). According to the sustainable e-commerce action plan, the firm adheres to the Sustainable Development Goals (Sustainable Development Goals). Additionally, the items should be green and ecologically beneficial.
Ingaldi and Ulewicz (2019) proclaimed that e-commerce is highly efficacious due to its efficiency, low cost, large sales volume, ease of use, personalisation of information based on customer purchasing behaviour, and use of social networks via social media by e-commerce corporations. E-commerce is more advantageous and leads to profitability, economic development, and added value to production, fostering a sustainable production process because of its high effectiveness and efficiency. E-commerce was not inherently assumed to be 100% profitable due to the high software and hardware setup expenses incurred during the early (start-up) phase; these are mostly buried costs (Viu-Roig and Alvarez-Palau, 2020). Therefore, the challenge is managing a sustainable and profitable e-commerce business while preventing environmental depletion and deterioration. Sustainable e-commerce may be accomplished by improved resource utilisation, factory production and management cost control, and the ability to adapt quickly to changing consumer requirements, boosting customer loyalty, happiness, and trust (Kiba-Janiak et al., 2021). If e-commerce businesses cannot satisfy and sustain customers’ demands, they could prefer to move back to shopping in physical stores.
Improving business processes
According to Ingaldi and Ulewicz (2019), compromise is a stance in which each side benefits and utilises its talents to accomplish the desired objective, transforming a negative influence into a favourable one. To become more sustainable, internet firms must evaluate their strengths and flaws. Companies must explore and assess the possibilities of optimising trade-offs to improve performance. However, this must be carefully evaluated since these trade-offs may severely affect the production and efficiency of an organisation (Escursell et al., 2021). The core of trade-offs is making choices that maximise all three elements of sustainability. To make e-commerce more sustainable, it is thus believed that enterprises and consumers reach the best possible compromise on the three elements of sustainability (Zheng et al., 2019). As long as there is an internet connection, all communities will experience e-commerce, and living will become more sustainable sooner or later.
Cheba et al. (2021) argued that human needs and cultural evolution are social factors. This dimension focuses on the beneficial effects that e-commerce can have on customers. Customers want a socially responsible business community, improved health, and a greener environment in their everyday online transactions. Additionally, everyday actions must recognise corporate ethics and social responsibility. The challenge individuals face today is that their acts to fulfil their present demands hinder their potential to develop future resources (Escursell et al., 2021). The leading business ecosystem in the world has a substantial beneficial influence on the societies and economies in which it works, supporting economic and technological sectors and producing high-quality employment (Mu et al., 2021). Likewise, online enterprises that participate in electronic trade (e-commerce) should recognise the significance of humanity to their continuing survival.
Dutta et al. (2020) businesses utilise social media to increase consumer awareness and global communication. Nonetheless, e-commerce has fostered social innovation. Communication and information technologies promote improved communication. In e-commerce, money is sent, and both sides may easily do business without a trade fair. Transactions generally satisfy societal requirements by enhancing customers’ standard of life. Local citizens utilise social media to advertise their local goods and sell them via e-commerce platforms, therefore maintaining their livelihoods, eliminating poverty in many nations, and providing a means of subsistence (Ingaldi and Ulewicz, 2019). The internet transcends regional and geographical barriers, fosters sustained socioeconomic growth, and removes global economic disparities. In another sense, developing nations may engage in e-commerce, which was previously incompatible with social and economic progress. Through digital literacy, kids and students may work online for themselves and the whole globe due to digitisation and e-commerce (Viu-Roig and Alvarez-Palau, 2020). As individuals live in a worldwide virtual economy, e-commerce has more positive than adverse environmental, economic, and social effects.
How e-commerce can integrate economic, social and environmental dimensions to ensure sustainability
According to Zheng et al. (2019), sustainability may be described as “filling current demands without affecting future generations’ capacity to fulfil their own needs.” When explaining sustainability, this report must consider three primary realms of impact: interconnected sectors representing the interaction between environmental, economic, and social factors. They are a collection of interconnected ideas that provide a strong foundation for making important choices and taking action. Examples include the design and construction of buildings, surface water management, land use planning, and even law. Everyone benefits when the three dimensions of sustainability are implemented in the actual world. The Chinese government is currently focused on the protection of natural resources, the preservation of the environment, the preservation of the economy, and the enhancement or maintenance of the populace’s quality of life.
Cao et al. (2021) Consumers are now well conscious of the need to safeguard the environment. Similarly, businesses should be willing and able to package their goods and services sustainably; packaging should be reusable, or businesses may implement a buy-back strategy. In addition, Chen (2019) argued that transportation policy should examine the most eco-friendly, energy-efficient mode of transportation. This guarantees minimum or no environmental harm as customers seek a green economy. If organisations can obtain reasonably priced packaging materials, they may save money from an economic standpoint.
Similarly, packing businesses should collaborate to consolidate shipments travelling in the same direction into a single delivery. For small items, businesses could adopt China’s bicycle delivery system, which might help decrease carbon emissions. In collaboration, all parties are included in the bigger picture, i.e., everyone, including traders, customers, and society as a whole, must safeguard the environment (Guo et al., 2020). This way, even with rivals, is referred to as cooperation and merits emphasis. The majority of the world’s issues, such as global warming, pollution, and disease-related calamities, have been mitigated by society’s efforts to safeguard the environment.
A collaborative strategy improves the three elements of sustainability to produce optimum economic, environmental, and social solutions that lessen environmental consequences. The convergence of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) is both a challenge and a solution for the e-commerce industry’s sustainable growth (Lu et al. 2020). Economic sustainability does not necessarily result in the decline of e-commerce; rather, it intensifies the coordinated efforts to remove geographic and regional restrictions so that consumers and sellers of e-commerce may profit regardless of their location (Zheng et al., 2019). Stakeholders include managers engaged in strategy and planning, staff carrying out simple procedures, and customers who will utilise the green goods the firm is supposed to generate. This may safeguard the environment, increase sales and profits for online companies, and help people live healthier lives.
The impact of e-commerce on environmental protection and sustainability
Benefits of online shopping
Zhu et al. (2021) established that online shopping is vital to Chinese people’s way of life. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, retail sales of physical products in china amounted to 7.019 trillion yuan in 2018, representing 18% of total retail sales of social consumption products. China’s thriving e-commerce has become a significant contributor to its economic development. In addition, it offers considerable promise for minimising physical pollution. The use of big Internet data has enhanced the engagement of e-commerce platform users, facilitated the creation of business models, and contributed to the rise in online transactions (Mucowska, 2021). Although people’s lives are much more pleasant, this has substantially increased solid waste. Due to the fast growth of e-commerce in china and the diversification of customer demands, excessive packaging is a big problem. Retailers must offer protective packaging for all storage, transportation, and sales connections to withstand shocks and harsh weather conditions during logistics and transit. However, excessive packaging is often an effort by merchants to demonstrate the product’s worth via attractive packaging (Zhang and Zhang, 2020). One of the major causes of increased solid water pollution is excess packaging. Some items are tiny to be packed on their own. However, some companies consider packaging more significant than the pollution it may cause to prevent damages, resulting in waste and possible pollution. Particularly in e-commerce, a small item arrives in large packaging. This decreases the prices of brick-and-mortar establishments but increases the contribution to society’s solid trash, which concerns the Chinese government.
The advent of internet shopping has accelerated the expansion of the express delivery market. Approximately 40% of express products received or sent by Chinese individuals are connected to internet shopping. The express business has benefited the most from the fast growth of China’s e-commerce supply chain, and production and use of express packaging have also expanded (Greenpeace, 2019). Three major environmental groups, Greenpeace and the China Environmental Protection Federation, are concerned about the enormous environmental costs associated with China’s express delivery and e-commerce industries’ phenomenal expansion.
The impacts of products packaging
Approximately 99 per cent of quick plastic packaging is non-biodegradable and is either buried or burnt with domestic garbage. Using sticky tape as an example, the wrapping tape required for cardboard packaging is between 1.5 and 2 metres, and most rolls are coiled many times (Awwad et al., 2018). In 2018, the exclusive use of adhesive tape in China topped 39.8 billion metres and 81 thousand tonnes, while the indirect consumption of tape cores was 440 million pieces weighing 21 thousand tonnes. In China, express packaging usage jumped from 21,000 tonnes in 2000 to 9.4 million in 2018 (Zhu et al., 2021). In China’s megacities, the rise of garbage from fast-food packaging accounts for 88% of household waste, and in particular large cities, this figure has reached 85-90%. Assume that pertinent regulations are not in place for the express shipping business, given its current pace of growth.
Consequently, the use of express packaging in China could hit 45 million tonnes by 2030, placing a tremendous strain on the environment and resources. According to Rai et al. (2021), cardboard accounts for around 38% of the materials (in pieces) used in express packaging, followed by plastic bags at 32%. Other examples are the carton, the foam box, the woven bag, and the file bag. Clothing accounts for the majority of e-commerce retail sales. Storage of items at the seller’s location also contributes to solid waste pollution to some degree (Yin et al., 2019). For instance, clothing waste offered at cheap costs due to e-commerce platforms’ marketing strategies is a significant cause of pollution.
E-commerce businesses in China are distinct from Western e-commerce because their supply chain is entirely dependent on the Chinese market. Thus, a rise in transaction volume drives producers to expand output, influencing the nation’s industrial structure and the industry behind e-commerce. At first look, the e-commerce business consists of e-commerce platform firms since customers buy things based on their demands, which must be met (Wang et al. 2020). Serving customers fall under the topic of service activities. Although enterprises with e-commerce platforms are not among the most prominent pollutants, the transaction process depends on the internet. A transaction generates a vast quantity of electronic data before, during, and after the transaction. To store and analyse this data takes a great deal of electrical equipment, which has resulted in a great deal of solid electronic waste pollution. In addition, many express orders and packages are involved in transaction logistics, which are a significant source of physical pollution for e-commerce business providers (Cheba et al., 2021). However, China’s e-commerce landscape continues. It is a comprehensive industry. It is the tertiary sector, namely the service and sales business. In addition, the scope of the tertiary sector (such as tourism) is expanded to include the primary and secondary industries.
Impacts of consumer’s buying habits on sustainability
Karpunina et al. (2019) argued that the illogical spending habits of Chinese consumers result in excessive mass manufacturing at the production end, which wastes resources and contributes to waste pollution. Increased shopping activities by consumers at cheap costs result in substantial waste. Concerning express packaging, online front-end businesses, express firms, and websites are often deficient; the cardboard recycling mechanism at the express station needs to be fixed (Moghadam et al., 2021). Principal drivers of paper express package recycling include senior citizens, cleaners, and mobile trash collectors. Low-recycling-rate plastic courier packaging is discarded and instead combined with residential garbage in landfills or incinerators. From a cost-benefit analysis of landfill disposal and incineration, the combination of quick packaging and domestic waste management results in higher social management costs (Spychalska-Wojtkiewicz, 2020). Both landfilling and incineration can tackle the critical waste issue. The indirect and direct physical pollution created by e-commerce (hazardous waste, municipal solid waste, and industrial solid waste) is unfathomable. Not restricted to the extra packing of rapid delivery, it is sufficient to generate an “explosive” environmental impact.
Government’s roles towards sustainable development
Under the direction of china’s green e-commerce policy, e-commerce platforms Due to China’s green economy policies being enforced, e-commerce businesses are, in turn, trying to implement all necessary environmental conservation measures. Reverse logistics recuperate clothes, electronic devices, and furniture trash from used products, progressively developing a recycling system for renewable resources, encouraging eco-friendly consumer behaviour, and pushing for eco-friendly platform operations (Karine, 2021). This conduct of the e-commerce platform has significantly decreased solid waste pollution.
China has persistently prioritised sustainable development in its research projects. In China, there needs to be a macro-level study on e-commerce solid waste disposal. For policymakers to adopt green e-commerce policies, macro-level research has particular guiding value. According to Velazquez and Chankov (2019), there are considerable contrasts between the West and China concerning e-commerce distribution methods and environment conservation, including logistical systems, packaging procedures, and advertising techniques (Hameed, 2019). Western studies are not relevant to China due to the peculiarities of the Chinese economy. The degree of economic growth and Internet penetration in China varies significantly.
Effects of business models towards sustainable development
According to Giliberto and Labadi (2022), the widespread opinion is that B2C e-commerce is detrimental to the environment, mainly when utilising cardboard packaging. In e-commerce, one of the primary sources of wastes are materials used in the transportation and packaging of products in logistic networks. In addition, hazardous waste is produced by vehicles, air transport, packing, fuel manufacturing, and book creation. Traditional bookshops use less packing to deliver books than internet retailers. The amount of trash and returns from B2C e-commerce, as well as the quantity of packing necessary for various forms of distribution (Lahkani et al., 2020). Numerous products are shipped straight to consumers or returned to stores, necessitating elaborate packing for protection. Many tiny deliveries and returns complicate receiving and packaging activities, which negatively affects the environment. Consumers often purchase different things from distinct websites, necessitating autonomous distribution. Even when purchasing several things from the same vendor, separate shipments may happen since the items are transported from various warehouses (Gee et al., 2020). This purchasing method has resulted in an increase in product packing and transit links compared to offline buying. The primary areas of e-commerce logistics that may affect the environment are transit management and planning, storage, distribution network design, and packaging.
On the contrary Qin et al. (2021) argued that e-commerce has sound environmental effects. Digital downloads may be utilised to alleviate the possible negative impacts of environmental contamination on human development when they replace tangible items such as music CDs. Additionally, e-commerce may minimise physical pollution. New business models have emerged due to the internet: entrepreneurs now provide online services and develop electronic markets to increase product recycling and use (Zhang et al., 2020). It is possible to decrease waste in e-commerce and reverse e-logistics. Recover scraps, leftovers, and discarded items recycled from the electronics industry. Effective e-waste reduction requires the application of laws directives, and policies like Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Advance Payment (Lin et al., 2020). E-commerce provides solutions that benefit both parties and blends economic prospects with eco-friendly services.
In hindsight, the study results about the effects of e-commerce on waste management are contradictory. There are both bad and good consequences of e-commerce, although the negative aspects are more evident. Green e-commerce is a widespread phenomenon. Different ideas on mitigating researchers are considering the damage and pollution produced by e-commerce (Lahkani et al., 2020). Among the most often explored topics in the literature are transportation planning and management, logistics, and transportation patterns, e-commerce packaging patterns, green closed-loop supply chain systems, and consumer buying behaviour. Time series data from different disciplines may describe this occurrence and legislation more accurately.
Conclusions
E-commerce is not only an additional method of collaboration; it is a distinct worldview and a vital element of competition. As e-commerce expands, problems persist regarding environmental, financial, and social management. This study’s objective was to examine how the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability may be integrated into the e-commerce industry to make it more sustainable. With this comprehensive strategy, e-commerce achieves sustainability, with businesses gaining economic rewards and contributing to environmental and social factors. The above is only achieved by business concerned with providing job stability for their staff and conserving the environment. Companies should consider enrolling who put their hearts and souls into their work since they are not concerned about pursuing greener pastures. Customers must expect more cost-effective goods and greener operations from businesses. Utilising low-cost, high-quality items and economic incentives, such as lower shipping costs, may help organisations promote sustainability. The trade-offs demonstrate that businesses may have a significant impact and that sustainable development is achievable when all stakeholders participate in the sustainability process. Thus, all parties have a win-win result. In this framework, it is simple to build policies that promote sustainable e-commerce and foster healthy relationships among customers, sellers, governments, and policymakers.
From the standpoint of green technology, this report suggests the following: Use safe recycling technology for solid organic trash, increase the conversion of solid waste resources provided by e-commerce platforms, and transform solid waste into renewable “oil, gas, carbon.” Encourage platform firms to produce “green logistics” using technical advancements such as electronic invoicing, packaging materials, and new energy trucks. Utilise cloud computing and big data to optimise systems, green logistics and intelligent logistics, including cardboard. Material recovery by hand from e-commerce in light of the natural state of platform firms’ green operations, the present management impact has not kept up with the trade growth rate. This is not typical in e-commerce, and express shipping businesses are taking steps to make their packaging more ecologically friendly. E-commerce platforms and courier businesses may restrict the expanding environmental impact of courier packaging by implementing more efficient recycling methods.
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Appendices
Appendix 1: (a) The distribution of CNSCs and IDZSDs. (b) Change in the number of CNSCs.
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
Appendix 4: The number of construction themes related to different SDGs in CNSCs.
Appendix 5: global warming in China vs in the US
Appendix 6: China’s UN sustainable development goals
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