The increasing global temperature, estimated to cause approximately 1.0°C of warming above pre-industrial levels and potentially reaching a critical threshold of 1.5°C between 2027 and 2042, highlights urgent environmental challenges.
These challenges are exacerbated by the carbon emissions associated with the recent surge in e-commerce and parcel delivery vehicles.
A UPIDO forecast that e-commerce parcel delivery could contribute up to 5.5 million metric tonnes of CO2 by 2032 underscores the need for drastic action in the logistics sector to mitigate these effects. More importantly, we could potentially reduce this carbon footprint by over 91% in just a decade or, to put it more visually, save over one forest the size of the Black Forest in this time.
Commitment to sustainability
The substantial carbon footprint of last-mile delivery, which accounts for 40% of all e-commerce emissions, is partly due to traditional, inefficient delivery methods. Despite widespread claims of green policies by logistics stakeholders, there remains a pervasive issue of ‘greenwashing’, where actual progress toward sustainability is frequently overstated.
However, some companies show genuine commitment by integrating more sustainable practices, such as increasing the use of lockers and PUDOs or eco-friendly vehicles. First-time delivery failure for home delivery – which can reach 25% and is associated with high costs – presents further challenges. Research suggests that where efficient and dense OOH networks are in place, shifting parcels to nearby parcel lockers or PUDOs could cut CO2 emissions by up to two-thirds in urban areas. We also believe that it is important to explore how the sharing economy can promote a greener approach in last-mile delivery.
This involves, among other strategies:
- Joint organization of transportation: Independent transportation operators, including courier, express and parcel (CEP) providers, should collaborate to use vehicles collectively. Preferably, these vehicles would be low- or zero-emission to minimize environmental impact;
- Implementation of shared parcel lockers: Instead of competing carriers running inefficient, overlapping networks, a unified system of shared parcel lockers open to all courier companies would enhance coverage and reduce waste.
While the sharing economy presents challenges and requires unique business models, it aligns well with environmental goals. Several innovative solutions are being explored to enhance the green last mile. These include parcel reception boxes, smart door locks and in-car deliveries, with parcel lockers and PUDO locations expected to be major drivers of alternative delivery methods. Initiatives like Quadient’s Open Locker network in the UK and new OOH partnerships in Poland are seen as positive steps toward denser and more effective OOH networks.
Improving urban logistics
As urban areas become more congested, non-fossil-fuel vehicles and e-cargo bikes are becoming increasingly vital for sustainable urban logistics, offering significant reductions in air pollution and traffic congestion. Regulatory changes in many large cities worldwide are promoting these sustainable transportation modes, enhancing their viability and adoption.
Looking to the future, the last-mile delivery sector is poised for transformative changes with the advent of autonomous delivery systems, en-route manufacturing and robotic stores on wheels.
Advanced technologies like drones (UAVs) and autonomous ground vehicles (AGVs) are being improved but it will still be some time before they can provide cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternatives for parcel delivery at scale, especially given the safety concerns, regulatory issues and public acceptance.
Meanwhile, concepts like crowdsourced delivery are emerging as flexible and eco-friendly alternatives that leverage existing trips and clean modes of transportation, although they require robust management to ensure reliability and trust.
Consumer demand
Overall, as climate awareness grows, consumers are increasingly valuing sustainable delivery options, which are expected to become more prevalent and sought after, driven by consumer demand and technological advancements. Today, the cost of a green alternative is still an issue for consumers, and this is a further reason why OOH delivery is key, as it offers the chance to provide low-cost and low-carbon delivery.
While there have been concerted efforts to shift toward more sustainable last-mile delivery options, the deployment of OOH delivery still faces adoption challenges due to consumer preference for direct home delivery in many markets.
What can you find in this report?
- The report covers green last-mile projects from all logistics and CEP organizations who have shared information about their green initiatives in the European arena as well as selected other projects that we have been able to identify with desk research or in expert interviews;
- In the footnotes you will find interactive links to the data sources (where applicable);
- We also seek to identify the most promising initiatives and extrapolate what their impact could be if they were to be implemented on a wider scale;
- We take a look at Ukraine, where there is a war going on but at the same time care for the environment and the development of low-carbon solutions for the last mile.
What are the sources and methodology?
The main sources for the report are:
- Extensive desk research on the CEP market, covering company press releases, websites and other sources;
- Use of UPIDO’s advanced internet search algorithm outcomes to estimate CO2 emissions in 27 EU countries plus Norway, Switzerland and the UK;
- Published information on the environmental impact of the CEP last mile;
- Interviews with senior-level expert contacts in the market;
- Last Mile Experts own in-depth, expert knowledge;
- Collaboration with subject-matter experts including our partner SwipBox, our contributors, Will Simpson from Kantar, Marta Cudziło from Łukasiewicz Poznań Institute of Technology, Mathilde Carlier from Statista, Vytautas Atkocaitis from Vinted Go and our Last Mile Experts partners who submitted their sustainable projects;
- Where the actual or published data is not available, we have made estimations based on our market knowledge.
Projects and case studies
- All business cases have been described by the solutions owners and have not been subject to any modification by Last Mile Experts;
- Both the content and the vocabulary used in the descriptions come from the authors and owners of the projects;
- Last Mile Experts does not bear legal or civil liability for possible inaccuracies and errors in project descriptions.
To receive a copy of the report, please register on the Last Mile Experts website.