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On Green Postal Day..24 postal firms worldwide declare cutting CO2 emissions by 40%
Twenty-four postal companies worldwide – marking the Green Postal Day on September 19 – declared cutting their total annual CO2 emissions by nearly 40% since 2008 amid plans to reduce emissions by an additional 50% compared to 2019, with 75% of energy consumption in their own buildings supplied by renewable energy sources.
In line with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17 – “Partnerships for the Goals” – postal companies worldwide are focusing on partnerships for sustainable development. These partnerships span companies in Europe, North America, Oceania, Africa and Southeast Asia. This allows postal companies to benefit from each other’s experiences and drive further progress towards their sustainability targets.
Collaboration and partnerships with all players are essential and already being put into practice through sustainable procurement programs, postal companies ensure that their suppliers comply with sustainability principles.
An additional focus area of the partnerships is developing innovative solutions for reducing CO2 emissions and waste, as well as innovative options for sustainable delivery services.
Moreover, the recycling rate for waste generated by postal companies is at 69%. In many countries, postal companies help promote the circular economy by collecting items from other sectors that are then recycled.
The postal sector plays an important role in the transition to a circular economy – not only through reducing its own impact, but by providing the logistics required to enable more sustainable consumer behavior worldwide. Optimized transport routes and reverse logistics will be important components of a circular economy. This includes things like reducing fuel consumption and providing facilities in postal outlets for returning empty packaging. The postal sector can also build on its experience and networks in order to collaborate with governments and other sectors.
Decarbonizing long-haul transport is becoming increasingly important to reducing the sector’s environmental impact. The technologies tested and refined for last-mile delivery are gradually being modified to meet the various requirements of long-distance shipping. High-performance charging technology is still in the development and standardization phase. Today, several postal companies deploy electric trucks for long distance transport, including DHL Group.
DHL Group, with its Post & Parcel Germany division, is even more advanced on this front. The 30,000 electric vehicles deployed in their operations make up 44% of their German fleet. By 2030, this percentage will increase significantly, with plans to achieve a figure of 80 to 90%. Reducing long-haul transport emissions remains challenging – as electric trucks with sufficient range are hardly available, charging infrastructure still does not provide nationwide coverage, and the trucks themselves remain extremely/hugely expensive. This is why DHL Group is currently focusing on Bio-CNG trucks as a transitional technology, with plans to purchase over 450 such trucks in Germany by the end of 2024. Other alternative drive systems, such as hydrogen and HVO-powered vehicles, are already being tested and will increasingly be deployed in the next several years.
Deutsche Post and DHL are investing not only in their vehicle fleet, but also in the renovation and new construction of operations sites, such as delivery bases equipped with photovoltaic systems, heat pumps and building automation to reduce CO2 emissions. The percentage of electric power from renewable energy sources used in the German mail and parcel business is at 95%.
Tobias Meyer, CEO DHL Group, said “International cooperation among postal companies on climate protection is also important for our customers sending shipments abroad, because they expect reduced CO2e emissions along the entire route from sender to recipient, not just for portions of the route. Moreover, we need uniform standards and good regulation in the area of sustainability like the so-called ‘Book & Claim’ so we can help our customers reduce their Scope 3 emissions. Working together as an industry is the only way to achieve this. Postal companies are making huge investments to transport mail and e-commerce shipments more sustainably. Hence the call to our customers: Take advantage of the transport offers with CO2e reduction.”
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