How to make your logistics operations greener and more sustainable

20th November 2020

Like any other industry, it’s time for logistics to take responsibility for a green transition and reduce Co2 emissions. At the Norwegian webinar “Green and Sustainable Logistics” companies from in and outside the logistics industry presented their inspiring green initiatives.

On the 6^th October 2020, Consignor arranged the webinar “Grønn og bærekraftig logistikk” (translated: Green and sustainable logistics) in collaboration with Consafe Logistics and Lager & Industrisystemer (LIS). Multiple pioneers from the in and outside the logistics industry presented how they had changed their logistics operations to greener and more sustainable measures to reduce Co2 emissions.

The presenters included ASKO, DB Schenker, Vinmonopolet, Consafe Logistics, LIS and Consignor. Oslo’s environmental city council was also invited to present their strategies to make Oslo the world’s first zero emission capital city.

It became clear from the beginning of the webinar, that a greener and more sustainable industry was not only required to reduce Co2 emissions. It was also demanded by customers and recipients. A PostNord research presented by Consafe Logistics showed demand for more sustainability in online shops increases each year.

There were three topics several of the presenters focused on:

• Sustainable transport methods
• Enhanced space utilization
• Reusable and green packaging.

The paths to sustainable transport methods are plenty

Oslo’s environmental city council takes several measures to achieve their goal of becoming the world’s first zero emission capital city:

“260.000 tonnes of Co2 came from parcel trucks and heavy transport in Oslo in 2018. This corresponds to 20% of all Co2 emissions in Oslo 2018. We want to reduce this by making more room for bicycles and public transport, offer convenient and cheap parking and charging spots for electric vehicles, as well as offer subsidies to transport companies that switch to EV’s (electric vehicles.)

“In the climate budget for 2021 all stop and parking spaces for vans in Oslo will be dedicated to emission-free vehicles,” says Morten Nordskog, City Council Secretary in Oslo.

DB Schenker is especially known for their zero emission goods transport in Oslo, which consists of 4 electric bicycles, 8 electric vans and 11 electric trucks. DB Schenker also focuses on increasing railroad transport and the use of biogas fuel. In addition, they are upgrading and building their warehouses to become more energy efficient.

A revolutionary sustainable transport method is currently being developed at food wholesaler ASKO, who is working on the world’s first electric sea drone for shipping containers. Also, ASKO has installed windmills and solar cells to fuel their warehouses as well as their electric trucks to reach their ambitious goals of zero Co2 emissions, only renewable energy and utilization of food waste.

Enhanced space utilization reduces the number of transports

Space utilization was a hot topic at the seminar and initiatives from both in and outside the box were presented.

Consafe Logistics develop solutions that minimizes use of energy, space and transport. Their box calculating feature optimizes the pallet height ensuring that trucks have a fill rate of +95%. This reduces the number of transports and ultimately Co2 emissions.

The alcohol retailer owned by the Norwegian government, Vinmonopolet, thinks inside the box in terms of space utilization:

“In the future, we will see flat bottles instead of round. When using flat bottles, you are able to fit 10-12 bottles into a box, whereas with round bottles, there is only room for 6. However, the flat bottles are a challenge for the return machines,” says Rolf E. Eriksen, Environmental Manager in Vinmonopolet.

At LIS they have invented collapsible and stackable return and pallet boxes. The boxes replace cardboard boxes and plastic wrapping and allow for much better stacking options during transport. Also, the return boxes ease return logistics in store and reduces the time spent on packing returns.

On a bigger scale Oslo’s City Council wants to promote more joint deliveries by establishing more charging stations for goods transport, where they can reload and gather goods with the same destination in Oslo.

DB Schenker are frontrunners in reloading goods headed for the same destination and have increased utilization rate as one of their main goals. The same goes for ASKO, who have improved their truck fill rates.

Reusable and environmentally friendly packaging

The collapsible and stackable return and pallet boxes at LIS not only enhance space utilization but also prompts reuse, as the boxes are made of durable material, which can be used many times in contrast to cardboard boxes and plastic wrapping. Also, the boxes minimize the risk of damage during transport.

At Vinmonopolet, it is especially packaging that set a massive Co2 footprint in their supply chain. They aim to reduce Co2 emissons by 40% by 2030 by introducing light weight glass bottles, reusable plastic bottles and cartons.

To keep track and measure the effect of their green initiatives, several of the presenters at the seminar said they had established climate accounts, internal quotas earmarked for environmental purposes and assessed the sustainability in new investments.

Make sustainable delivery options available to the recipient

Consignor wrapped up the seminar and shared interesting statistics on how the number of last mile carriers have exploded in the last 5 years. This is reflected by the increasing use of multiple carriers by their customers for shipping goods.

The Consignor software helps shippers choose sustainable freight methods through the shipping rules feature where shippers can automate the companies’ shipping rules to e.g. always choose the most sustainable delivery method for their shipments. In the checkout Consignor’s Ship Advisor feature enables shippers to display sustainable delivery options together with other relevant options in the checkout.

Watch the video below to see the seminar in full. Please note however, it is in Norwegian.