DPD to take parcel services “carbon neutral” from July

European parcel and express delivery group DPD is taking its parcel delivery services “carbon neutral” – without even requiring customers to pay a premium for the privilege. The company, part of La Poste’s GeoPost Group, is to begin the “Total Zero” offering from July 2012 by providing carbon offsets to counter the carbon emissions associated with shipment of the 2.5m parcels it carries each day.

The move comes as part of a Group-wide move to carbon neutrality at La Poste.

Customers will not have to opt in to the carbon neutral service, it will apply to all DPD shipments, both business and consumer, sent to any destination around the world from the group’s five major markets of the Benelux region, Britain, France, Germany and the Netherlands.

DPD will be offsetting its emissions with perimeters set by parent firm GeoPost to take account of emissions from transport, buildings and packaging.

Offsets are being made through the public-owned French agency CDC Climat, a subsidiary of the Caisse des Depot Group.

A spokesman for the company told Post&Parcel that making the offsets free of charge for its customers was about “taking their responsibility to the environment seriously”.

DPD has been measuring and actively reducing its carbon emissions since 2006, with ofsetting the “next step in that process”.

Total Zero is expected to see around 500,000 tonnes of carbon emissions offset each year, an amount that should reduce over time as the company continues to improve its environmental impact, it said.

About EUR 5m a year will go towards offing the emissions, funding environmental projects in Europe and the developing world.

Dwain McDonald, the chief executive of DPD in the UK (pictured above right), said: “Our emissions are already lower than those of our competitors because parcels shipped on our European road network produce up to eight times less carbon dioxide than those shipped by air.

“We will carry on looking at every aspect of our business so that we can continue to significantly reduce our emissions per parcel year-on-year,” added McDonald.

Cutting emissions

Across Europe, DPD has a workforce of about 24,000 people and a fleet of 18,000 vehicles operating from 800 sites. The company claims to be the second largest express parcels provider with a turnover of EUR 3.44bn in 2010.

The company said some of the measures it has been lowering carbon emissions from its operations have included its “Predict” service, which gives customers a better idea of exactly when their parcels will arrive, thereby increasing first-time delivery rates by 10%, and a “Drive Smart” training programme for drivers to learn how to drive in a more efficient manner.

The company is also introducing technology like electric vehicles, natural gas-powered vans and double-decker trailers to reduce emissions per parcel from its transport, with energy-efficient lighting and renewable energy generators cut the emissions from its facilities.

In the UK, the company was awarded a Carbon Trust Standard in 2010 by the Carbon Trust, an environmental not-for-profit set up by the UK government. The Standard recognised DPD UK’s 14% cut in carbon emissions over the previous three years.

DPD said its major customers are responding well to the plan to move services to a carbon neutral basis.

Nick Robertson, the chief executive of fashion retailer ASOS, said the move will support its efforts in being carbon neutral since 2009.

“This is a great initiative by a key supplier, and our customers will love the fact that parcels shipped via DPD will be carbon neutral from July onwards, and at no extra cost to them or us,” he said.