GLS opens eco-depot in central Germany
Express delivery company GLS has opened another of its expanding network of “eco-depots”, this time in northern Bavaria. The new Depot 88 facility at Kürnach, in the district of Würzburg, replaces an older Depot 88 at a nearby site.
Close to good transport links including the A7 autobahn, the new Depot 88 has a 2,500 square metre floor area, with 81 docking bays.
GLS says the facility can process around 18,000 packages each day. with modern scanner systems and video survellance to ensure safe and efficient processing.
The company said its building and the sorting equipment within it can be expanded to respond to rising mail volumes.
Eberhard Fritz, managing director for Western Europe at GLS, said the previous Depot 88 was too small and could not be expanded.
He said: “The condition of the transport infrastructure here – including proximity to the A7 – is so good that we really wanted to stay at this location. We are therefore pleased that together with the local community, this solution was found for us.”
Eco
As with GLS’ other eco-depots, the new GLS depot in Kürnach has been built with environmental impacts in mind. It is constructed from recycled materials, boasts a rainwater recycling system and makes use of renewable energy sources including its use of a heat pump as its primary heating system.
GLS, which ships around 363m packages each year within 42 European countries, has 38 central hubs and 642 depots.
The company based near Amsterdam in the Netherlands has been building eco-depots since 2008, when it started its pan-European “Think-Green” environmental initiative. So far, the Kürnach facility brings the total number of its eco-depots to eight.
