DHL introduces climate-neutral parcels across Germany
– Pluspäckchen GoGreen available in more than 12,500 Post retail outlets beginning in August
– CO2 emissions offset by environmental-protection projects
The environmentally friendly Pluspäckchen GoGreen will be sold in all Deutsche Post retail outlets in Germany beginning in August 2007. The parcel is a practical combination of recycled packaging materials and a postal fee that includes climate-neutral shipping within Germany. DHL calculates all CO 2 emissions created by the shipment of a Pluspäckchen und offsets them through environmental-protection measures. DHL is not only the first but also the only supplier of CO 2 neutral packages and parcels for business and private customers across Germany.
The Pluspäckchen GoGreen comes in two sizes and has a maximum weight of 20 kilograms. Regardless of the size and weight, the Pluspäckchen GoGreen costs EUR 5.99, just like the normal Pluspäckchen, which will be completely replaced by the environmentally friendly version. The CO 2 emissions are offset through internal and external environmental-protection projects that include the introduction of vehicles with alternative propulsion systems as well as solar-energy projects in Southeast Asia and reforestation programs in Latin America.
Each year, an independent certification association reviews the environmental-protection projects on the basis of guidelines laid down by the Kyoto Protocol. “Our GoGreen Initiative is unique in the logistics industry,” says Uwe Brinks, head of the Divisional Board Package Germany at Deutsche Post. “With this sustainability concept, we are living up to our social responsibility as the leading logistics company. At the same time, we’re helping our customers play an active role in environmental protection.”
Deutsche Post World Net launched the GoGreen-Initiative in 2005 as a pilot project. Since 2006, business customers across Europe have been able to send their packages in a climate-neutral manner. Last year, the Pluspäckchen GoGreen was tested as a product for private customers in 2,000 retail outlets of Deutsche Post. Since February 2007, private customers have also been able to ship all packages and parcels in a CO 2 neutral manner within Germany by using the Internet page www.dhl.de/onlinefrankierung.
