Belgian post group Bpost it is making deliveries for private households carbon-neutral in the postcode area 1000 Brussels in Belgium.
This postcode extends from the morning market in the north to Bois de la Cambre in the south of the city. Mail is delivered on regular rounds within that zone on foot or using the company’s 61 electric vehicles and 14 electric bike trailers. As well as improving air quality through a reduction in carbon and fine particulate matter emissions, this green fleet was created to help cut urban congestion.
Pick-up points have also been deployed close to customers to minimize journeys that end in an unsuccessful delivery. The hybrid network of 31 pick-up points has been selected based on how strategic and accessible the location was. As a result, citizens shouldn’t have to go more than 500m to pick up a parcel, which they can do as part of their commute or when they do their shopping.
This project was driven bpost’s partnership with VUB-MOBI and their project to transform the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region (BCR) into one large Ecozone in which all deliveries will be made emission-free by 2025. bpost’s aim was to show that a carbon-neutral logistics system can be set up in the BCR by drawing on a combination of different logistics solutions (electric vehicles and e-bikes, a dense pick-up point network) and urban micro-hubs.
bpost’s ambition is to establish zero-emission deliveries in 25 Belgian cities by 2025, by adopting electric vehicles, electric bike trailers and a dense network of pick-up points (post offices, post points, parcel points) and parcel lockers. The current Ecozones are Mechelen, Leuven, Namur, Mons and Louvain-la-Neuve. In Mechelen, the company has cut carbon emissions in connection with home deliveries and deliveries to pick-up points by 97%.