In this paper, a review of the recent scientific literature contributions on innovative strategies for last mile logistics, focusing on externalities cost reduction, is presented. Transport is causing problems in urban areas, in particular in freight transport: modern cities need solutions to reduce externalities costs such as congestion, pollution and others, which have increased in the last few years, especially due to the growth of goods delivery. Online sales and globalization lead to new trends in freight transport, and moreover, a larger quantity of goods is expected to be delivered in the next future. In this context, most of the delivered goods end up in the city centers. Last mile logistics is the least efficient stage of the supply chain and comprises up to 28% of the total delivery cost. Therefore, the improvement of last mile logistics and a significant externalities reduction are very important challenges for researchers. New technologies and transport means, innovative techniques and organizational strategies allow handling in a more effective way the last mile delivery in urban areas. Based on the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method, recent papers that significantly contributed, with original proposals, to the reduction of externalities in urban logistics are identified and analyzed in this work. Furthermore, a classification of the papers dealing with the externality reduction problem is presented. It is consistent with a general formulation proposed to evaluate external costs in urban area. The innovative contributions are classified into five main categories: innovative vehicles, proximity stations or points, collaborative and cooperative urban logistics, optimization of transport management and routing, innovations in public policies and infrastructures. The new paradigm of smart logistics is based on the combination of these concepts and on the proposed innovations.

The deployment of electric, connected, and autonomous vehicles on public roads presents a significant challenge that can be addressed through previously established frameworks developed globally for implementing these technologies as part of an urban living lab (ULL). This systematic review, based on records from four distinct databases, focuses on projects that have conducted deployments of self-driving technologies in streets within urban environments. The review describes relevant information about various initiatives, including a classification of the stages of development reached according to the urban area covered, safety considerations, and lessons learned for optimal deployment. On-board sensing technology, digital infrastructure, and energy and communication systems emerge as the essential components of a ULL with autonomous vehicles (AVs). A crucial goal for smart cities is ensuring the scalability of large-scale deployments of such ULLs for safe, clean, and future mobility experimentation. This can only be achieved through effective coordination among academia, government, industry, and society to guarantee the successful integration of multiple projects in a unique environment.

The agri-food supply chain is responsible for high GHG emissions. In industrial food processing, there is potential for reducing environmental impacts. In the case of apricot jam, several practices for realizing the finished product can be adopted. If, on the one hand, the scientific literature provides detailed studies on the economic aspects of the existing practices, on the other hand, a comprehensive assessment of the most common production practices from an environmental perspective is not provided. Apricot jam production can be based on two different kinds of raw materials: fresh fruit and the so-called “semi-finished product”, which is obtained by treating fresh fruits with mechanical and thermal processes. The most extended shelf-life of the semi-finished product allows for the adoption of more flexible production practices, leading to increased production performance and ensuring more efficient transportation strategies. In environmental terms, the convenience of this approach compared to adopting fresh fruit is questionable. The aim of this paper is to compare the environmental impacts due to these two different production and transport practices of apricot jam. Consistent with this end, a Life Cycle Assessment methodology has been adopted to evaluate the environmental impact of each step in the apricot jam supply chain. Research results suggest that the use of fresh apricots in the production of jams has a lower environmental impact (about 50–65% without considering transport activities) than the use of semi-finished products, and that losses due to the short shelf-life of fresh fruit limits the transportation distance of the raw and fresh material, also depending on the transport mode adopted (in the range of 875–4450 km). This highlights the need to adopt more clean and sustainable practices in the current industrial food processes.

Nowadays, goods are relocated daily among urban fashion stores by van or truck. This relocation activity generates externalities in urban areas that cause deterioration in the quality of life of their citizens. Innovative strategies based on a sharing approach promise solutions to reduce the use of heavy, polluting vehicles and therefore the related externalities in urban areas. The authors aim to optimise the relocation activity of city fashion stores through a customer‐involved incentive mechanism. The method provides store shopping vouchers to loyal customers as a reward for package delivery from one shop to another. If no customers agree to participate in the delivery game, company relocation staff will perform the delivery service. The benefit of the proposed delivery game is twofold—it increases customer loyalty and reduces the externalities produced by heavy vehicles moving through the city. To this end, two integer linear programming problems are formalised to optimise goods relocation activity with package deliveries (1) by company staff only and (2) by loyal customers in an incentive game. A simulation case study is presented to show the application of the methodology in fashion stores.

Agri-food processing industries generate a significant amount of food waste during different stages of processing. Sustainable food loss and waste (FLW) management aims to reduce, reuse, and recover the waste generated. To successfully implement strategies capable of pursuing these goals there is the need to connect agri-food processing industries with possible stakeholders in the use of waste generated. Primary processing centres are an example of industries that generate waste from the processing of fruits and vegetables. A model able to increase the environmental, economic, and social benefits of FLW reuse with appropriate strategies is proposed in this study. It is based on a multicriteria decision-making approach and a business-to-business web platform to support decision makers in identifying the best FLW management strategies from a quantity reduction and/or sustainability maximization perspective. Numerical simulations highlight the effectiveness of the model in identifying the best FLW management strategies within a panel of alternatives.