Green Post Day 2020: some green things from the delivery world
Ian Kerr
Today is Green Postal Day! Coordinated by the International Post Corporation (IPC) with PostEurop, the day highlights the environmental and business benefits the postal industry has reaped by working together to reduce CO2 emissions.
Ten years ago, postal operators were among the first to launch a sector-wide programme to measure and reduce CO2 emissions via the IPC’s Environmental Measurement and Monitoring System (EMMS).
Since then, postal operators have strengthened their environmental ambitions and have increased their sustainability efforts, reaching a reduction of 30% of their CO2 emissions, well ahead of their initial targets.
Here’s a look at what PostNord Norway and Swiss Post are doing to reduce emissions in the face of rising parcel volumes.
PostNord Norway
In Norway, PostNord is introducing new goals that will result in the postal operator reducing its CO2 emissions by 20% in 2020, 40% in 2025 and 60% in 2030, compared to 2009.
“The strategy is very ambitious, but absolutely necessary - we take our social responsibility seriously.” May-Kristin Willoch, Assistant Director Sustainability, PostNord
Most of PostNord's CO2 emissions come from road transport. PostNord is replacing current vehicles with zero-emission alternatives, such as battery-electric vans for cities and trucks that run on biogas.
PostNord is also buying carbon credits. PostNord says that converting to an all-green car fleet is a time-consuming process, so it is kick-starting this environmental initiative by purchasing carbon credits.
PostNord acknowledges that purchasing carbon credits is controversial, as it doesn’t solve the climate challenge in their backyard.
Swiss Post solar cells
Swiss Post recently opened a new parcel centre in Valais, which combines the parcel processing functions of four local sorting centres.
A special feature of the new parcel centre is the rooftop photovoltaic system. With 4663 panels on an area of over 7632 m2, the system will produce almost 1564 MWh of electricity per year and save 209 tons of CO2 every year.
Swiss Post operates 19 solar power systems on the roofs of buildings such as letter and parcel centres. These photovoltaic systems feed around 7.6 gigawatt hours of solar energy into the public power grid every year. In principle, all new Swiss Post buildings will include photovoltaic systems.
Since 2008, Swiss Post has met all of its energy needs from renewable energies. Today, 100 percent of this electricity comes from renewable energy sources in Switzerland including hydroelectric, wind and solar power plants, as well as microhydropower and biomass power plants. Swiss Post has over 6,000 electric scooters in its delivery fleet, powered entirely with electricity from renewable sources.
Environmental Measurement and Monitoring System (EMMS)
In late 2017, Holger Winklbauer, CEO of the International Post Corporation, joined me on the Postal Hub Podcast to discuss results from IPC's Environmental Measurement and Monitoring System (EMMS) programme:
The solar panel system on the roof of Swiss Post’s new Vétroz parcel centre
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