Australia Post to meet customer’s need for sustainability

Australia Post has announced a new three-year plan with 19 commitments that will create economic, social and environmental value for the Australian community.

As a sign of its action on those commitments, it has also announced that it will be launching a new range of recycled and recyclable plastic satchels, as it moves away from using virgin plastic and gives used plastic another life.

The first recycled plastic satchel will be launched with major customer Country Road this year in time for Christmas, with a transition across the business in early 2020.

Group Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director Christine Holgate said Australia Post was building on its long, proud history of responsible citizenship.

“One of the things about sustainability and doing things like recycled packaging is for the people that work in your business. They want to work for organisations where they’ve got strong values,” Ms Holgate said.

Coming into effect last month, the new Plan is underpinned by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – the world’s sustainability agenda for 2030.

Australia Post has charted its path with a suite of “2030 aspirations”, aligned to the SDGs it impacts the most, including achieving world-class safety metrics, gender equality across the business, and becoming a low-carbon logistics provider.

The Plan outlines Australia Post’s intent to put sustainability front and centre of all it does while also meeting increased customer demand for sustainable products, services and solutions.

“All of our big delivery facilities now use solar generation for electricity – we’re one of the biggest property owner and tenants – so it’s not about spending more, but spending wisely,” Ms Holgate said.

The commitments are grouped within three themes:

• Everyone is included – creating vibrant, inclusive communities; and providing safe, fair and fulfilling work for our extended workforce
• Everyone prospers – by delivering responsibly and profitably; and providing great customer experiences
• Everyone thrives – by reducing our environmental impacts and facilitating a circular economy.

“The people of Australia expect us to do more – there’s a bigger expectation on an organisation that provides a community service to be leading in this type of work,” Ms Holgate said.