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~ PostNL ~

SUSTAINABLE

CROSS-BORDER E-COMMERCE

Text: PostNL Team // Photos: PostNL

Sustainability should be part of your business model nowadays. The world is asking for it.
70% of all Dutch consumers, for instance, find it important that businesses address and
act upon sustainability. The good news is that, on average, e-commerce is 2.3 times more
sustainable than shopping at brick-and-mortar stores.

t PostNL, we’re continuously on the lookout for to 83% of consumers, one of the big annoyances is wrong
better solutions with and for our partners and packaging, mainly boxes that are too large.
Acustomers in order to get parcels from A to B as
sustainably as possible. In the Netherlands, we’re already So apart from solutions like letterbox parcels (for which we
delivering all of our letterboxes to 96% of addresses now also have Track & Trace on international destinations),
emission-free. And we deliver all post and parcels within we started the so-called Packaging Centre. At this centre are
Europe door-to-door CO2 neutral. packaging consultants who can help you with any packaging
problem you have. They provide personal advice, solutions
We do this by maximising our CO2 reductions and by using and, well, packaging. Like boxes that are the right size
electric vehicles where possible. And if that isn’t possible, we for letterboxes or fashion packs with which you can send
use HVO100 (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil), which saves 90% garments with as little air as possible. And, where possible,
of CO2 emissions, as opposed to diesel. For international packaging that’s reusable and/or recycled. Exactly what the
transport, HVO100 isn’t readily available along the route. consumer prefers. ••
However, we are busy with HVO100 pilots on some routes
to Germany, France and Switzerland. Together with our
partners, we look critically at our processes and change what’s
possible to make them more sustainable. This is how we got
to replace single-use pallet boxes with reusable pallet boxes.
And how we started our train pilot to Italy and Norway. And ABOUT:
what we really can’t reduce - yet - is that we compensate with If you’d like to know more about our packaging centre or would like personal
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Gold Standard+ and VCS credits . advice on how you can make a change with your packaging, please contact
our packaging consultants: [email protected]
Increase your customer satisfaction and lower your
carbon footprint and costs at the same time But PostNL does lots more to contribute to a greener world, preferably with
Looking at the e-commerce chain, the carbon footprint can and for partners and customers. If you’d like to know more about PostNL
be divided into 4 categories: Returns 25%, Real estate 15%, international’s sustainability program, please have a look at postnl.nl/
Transport & logistics 15%, and Packaging 45%. So, if you sustainable or contact our Sustainability Program Manager Cindy Seegers:
want to make your e-commerce more sustainable, start with [email protected]
packaging.

At PostNL, we transport about 30% air. That’s a waste SOURCES:
of packaging material and quite literally a waste of space. 1) The Gold Standard (GS) is a voluntary carbon offset program focused
Reducing this means we can use that space for other on progressing the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
parcels, therefore having to make fewer trips, reducing our and ensuring that project’s benefit their neighbouring communities.
footprint, etc. Smart packaging has more advantages: better Please read more on this on: https://www.offsetguide.org/understanding-
product protection, more parcels per roll container, less CO2 carbon-offsets/carbon-offset-programs/voluntary-offset-programs/gold-
emissions per package, less packaging material, lower costs standard/#:~:text=The%20Gold%20Standard%20(GS)%20is,Development%20
and less waste. It’s a chain reaction. Plus, you would have Mechanism%20(CDM)%20projects.
fewer annoyed customers. Research shows that, according

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