PostNL has announced the start of the construction work for a new parcel sorting center at HoogTij business park in Westzaan in the Netherlands. The new location will give a much needed capacity increase in the area, and is expected to be able to process between 40,000 and 50,000 parcels on a daily basis.
Iris van Wees, operations manager of PostNL Pakketten, commented, “Covid-19 has changed consumers’ behavior. They’re placing more and more online orders. We have responded to the rapid growth in volume by scaling up our capacity by 40%. In the run up to the holidays period, we will be continuing those efforts and investing in new locations in order to optimize the delivery process in the growing parcel market. We will be opening two new parcel locations in the Netherlands next year. The sustainable premises in Westzaan is one of those locations.”
PostNL noted that the facility will be BREEAM certified, ensuring its sustainability credentials, with the company aiming for an Outstanding rating. It will be the eighth PostNL parcel sorting center with a BREAAM certificate and as such, the company says it is investing in sustainable materials for construction as well as the installation of around 900 solar panels and waste heat recovery systems.
The Westzaan location will be part of a network of 25 parcel sorting centers in the Netherlands and six locations in Belgium. PostNL says it will also open a second location in 2021, in the Netherlands, a special sorting center for small parcels in Nieuwegein, and also plans to add a new high-tech sorting center in Willebroek, Belgium.