Green Logistics in the Context of Sustainable Development in Small and Medium Enterprises

Forestry and wood-processing industry are sectors based on renewable ecological natural resources of wood raw material. Wood mass processing should be based on sustainable development, which involves the economic and social development based on environment preservation. Green logistics, which leads to change in creating the product value, characterizes different possibilities to measure and minimize the ecological impact of logistics activities and puts emphasis on sustainable ecological orientation, is closely related to sustainable development. The aim of this article is to investigate the issue of green logistics of forestry and wood processing in small and medium enterprises in Slovakia. To reach this goal, an empirical research was carried out, the objective of which was to determine the level of understanding, as well as the implementation of green logistics activities, and to identify its potential for future implementation in small and medium enterprises in selected branches. The research has revealed that as many as 28.8 % of enterprises claim not to have had any experience with green logistics within their enterprise. The greatest barrier for the implementation of green logistics appears to be the high input costs, which was confirmed by 62 % of the enterprises. On the basis of the research results, a model of implementation of green logistics concept in Slovak small and medium forestry and wood-processing enterprises has been proposed, as an element of sustainable development.