bpost Eco Lab Sustainability Program
In the Press
bpost Eco Zone launches in Mechelen 9 July, 2020
Mechelen in the first Eco Zone to pilot several initiatives for zero-emission delivery.
Parcel & Post International Award recipient for Environmental Achievement
bpost - Op naar emissievrije pakjesleveringen in Mechelen
GVA - Mechelen is eerste stad waar bpost brieven en pakjes emissievrij bezorgt
Post & Parcel Technology International - bpost looks to lower delivery emissions
De Tijd - bpost blaast pakjesautomaten nieuw leven in
Results
Our pilot city of Mechelen achieved amazing results - a 97% decrease in the carbon footprint and 70% decrease in air pollution of bpost deliveries.
We were awarded with Parcel & Post International award for Environmental Achievement in 2021.
The programme is being rolled out to 4 additional cities in 2021, with more to come in the coming years.
Summary
Between January 2018 and June 2020, I created a comprehensive vision and implementation plan for bpost to launch environmentally sustainable deliveries.
When I started, the Parcels & Logistics group had no stated ambition for reducing carbon emissions, and no plans to offer sustainable deliveries. By the time I handed over my findings and vision to the Group CEO of bpost, sustainability had risen to the top three strategic pillars of bpost, and the number one priority in the Parcels & Logistics new services initiatives.
In 18 months I led a small team that:
Alerted the CEO of Parcels & Logistics to a looming threat to our business if we didn’t take sustainability more seriously
Wrote and published an internal positioning paper on sustainable logistics for last-mile delivery in Benelux
Created a dedicated “Eco Lab” to track trends, conduct research, and launch experiments around new sustainable services
Recommended what bpost’s ambition should be in achieving zero-carbon delivery
Created a strategic roll-out strategy, concentrating first on one “Eco Zone” to demonstrate a comprehensive plan, and cluster of complimentary services to accelerate carbon reduction in the last mile
Set up an implementation dialogue between business units:
Onboarded all major departments at bpost including the Group Executive Committee, the Group CEO, Parcels & Logistics CEO, Last-Mile B2C, Mail Operations, Fleet, Procurement, Brand and Communications, and Regulatory and Legal Services.
Assembled a cross-business group of Sustainability Champions to align individual efforts across all areas of bpost business
Recruited key business partners to participate in the first Eco Zone experiments, including Zalando, Proximus and Inditex
Onboarded the first city, Mechelen, to host the first Eco Zone, and achieve emission-free delivery by 2022
Wrote and published an internal vision and planning for the first city blueprint, including 6 key services to launch now, and 30 additional opportunities to explore to eliminate emissions and reduce congestion
Launched the first two key initiatives: a “locker boost” plan to increase the density of bpost’s locker network, and “fleet boost” meant to accelerate investment in electric vehicles
June 2018 Positioning Paper: “Sustainable Ecommerce Urban Last Mile Logistics”
March 2020 Vision Statement: “Creating a Vision for the Future of Emission-Free Urban Last-Mile Logistics in Benelux”
Background
At the beginning of 2018 I started researching environmentally sustainability in ecommerce and logistics. At first, it was mostly out of my own personal passion for the environment, and a vague suspicion that I would find some problems that need solving.
My findings were more shocking than I anticipated. Outside, the student strikes were ramping up, drawing larger crowds of young people to the streets of Brussels. Inside the ecommerce world, more and more environmental scandals were being discovered. Fashion is now the second most polluting industry on the plane. Amazon was caught dumping millions of returned products in the trash. The increasing demand for ecommerce and home delivery was flooding our neighborhoods with thousands more small vans, increasing traffic and congestion.
Leading companies and CEOs were starting to take a more visible stand against environmentally damaging practices, and set ambition goals for carbon reduction. Cities were funding large-scale projects to examine how they can reduce congestion and improve air quality. It all looked like a perfect storm brewing, with ecommerce and logistics at the center of it all.
In April 2018, I presented my findings to the CEO of Parcels & Logistics, along with a key prediction: 2019 will be the year sustainability goes commercial. I demonstrated that bpost will need to have a concrete plan for emission-free delivery by 2020, or risk up to 67% of their business.
He agreed, and gave Future Lab the mandate to create a vision for sustainable delivery, and clear recommendations on how to move forward.
Strategic vision
While the bpost Group had already established a science-based target for emissions reductions by 2030, the Parcels & Logistics business was not yet included. In addition, the plans in place largely concentrated in internal operations, not of providing external services to senders and cities. They needed to focus on what our clients will ask of us, and provide services that will help them reduce their overall supply chain impact.
We recommended that bpost’s ambitions be in line with those of our key senders, many of which want to achieve zero emissions by 2025.
Operational execution
The internal operations of parcel delivery is a complex set-up, being largely executed by mail operations, and separated service departments. It’s also heavily regulated by unions, which can limit the flexibility of the operating model. And every community in Belgium has their own unique policies and regulations around mobility and access.
We recommended starting with a single city as a testing ground, to first demonstrate what a “blueprint” might look like for emission-free delivery. From there, that blueprint could be leveraged and adapted for each city, rolling out one-by-one. This reduces operational strain, ensures flexibility, and better prepares unions and operations staff for coming changes.
We evaluated and prioritised 30 services or operational optimisations bpost can do to achieve emission-free delivery. Six of those were proposed to start the transition, and have the potential to reduce emissions by up to 70% after implementation.
Change management and coordination
bpost is a people-first business, but with a very rigid hierarchy of management. When we started this programme, there was no active sustainability department. We knew we would have to balance a bottom-up approach with top-down buy-in.
We first recruited a group of “sustainability champions” from across several business units who were either passionate about the environment, or were responsible for making services more sustainable. We pulled all the relevant sustainability projects under one umbrella, to help coordinate and support their existing projects. This group served as a group of internal influencers, and provided guidance to our planning and activities.
We created a new KPI - the carbon footprint of one parcel delivery - and implemented in bpost’s regular sustainability reporting.
Finally, we gathered insights and quotes from our key senders which demonstrated a clear threat to the parcel business - up to 67% loss of revenue - if we didn’t offer emission-free delivery by 2025. We took this message up the ladder of management, and received the support of the Group Executive Committee and the Group CEO. Sustainability was added to the top 3 strategic pillars for bpost in the new company vision.