The companies Danone, Delhaize, Jacobs Douwe Egberts, Pro-Duo, Proximus, Telenet and Schoenen Torfs has announced plans to combine their deliveries of orders to retail outlets and individuals in the city of Antwerp and deliver them together. The smart bundling of goods on the outskirts of the city hopes to translate into less distance travelled and 90.0% less emissions. bpost has since announced it has been selected to bundle the parcels of the participating companies in Antwerp and then deliver them completely emission-free to individuals and retail outlets in the city.
The decision comes as part of the Collaborative Urban Logistics & Transport (CULT) partnership, formed in mid-2021 and initiated by supply chain management company TRI-VIZOR. The partnership was formed with the aim of reducing the distance travelled and the emissions of urban deliveries by bundling goods on the outskirts of the city and then delivering them in the city emission-free.
bpost will not only distribute parcels, but also pallets to retail outlets. The transport of these pallets will currently still be done with small trucks on hydrotreated vegetable oil. bpost stated that as soon as the relevant technology is available for company use, these methods of transportation will become fully electric.
CEO of bpost Dirk Tirez commented: “This project is fully in line with our Ecozone philosophy of sustainable, innovative urban distribution whereby we combine emission-free delivery with an extensive network of collection points and lockers. It is therefore logical that bpost makes its contribution to this. Our ambition is to be the most sustainable e-commerce logistics player in Europe by 2030, with a CO2-free last mile.”
Furthermore, CEO of TRI-VIZOR Alex Van Breedam stated: “The more companies [that] bundle their flows in CULT, the fewer transport movements and emissions compared with the situation in which companies operate individually. After all, five deliveries per street is much more sustainable and efficient than one delivery every five streets”.
CULT’s ambition extends beyond the present group of companies in Antwerp. TRI-VIZOR has set up the framework so that new companies as well as retailers in the city centre can quickly and easily join. Within this structure, companies – even competing players – can co-operate transparently and fully in line with existing regulations. Moreover, this structure is easily transferable to other cities.
CULT is opting for what it calls a “Green Deal Delivery”, with deliveries at fixed times, completely emission-free, with green transport such as cargo bikes and electric vans and with couriers who can work in socio-economically responsible working conditions. It aims to actively contribute to the significant mobility and environmental challenges that towns and cities are facing.
Source: bpost
