Belgian Post now only delivers emission-free in Brussels
Belgian postal operator Bpost has announced that it has reached a major milestone: The country’s largest postal and logistics company now only delivers emission-free in Brussels. This makes the EU headquarters the first capital city in Europe where no combustion engine vehicles are used for last-mile deliveries. The Austrian Post had already announced this for Vienna, but it will not reach this goal until the end of the year.
Instead of delivery vehicles with combustion engines, the company consistently relies on electric delivery vans, e-bikes with trailers and delivery on foot. Bpost has also expanded its network of collection points so that they are within walking distance for customers in inner-city areas. According to Bpost, the approximately 350 stations are either located along their daily routes or within a 400-metre radius of their place of residence.
The advantages of the emission-free last mile are obvious: improved air quality, reduced noise levels and 750 tonnes less CO2 emissions per year thanks to the switch to electric vehicles. The fleet consists of a total of 57 e-bikes and 565 electric vans. The latter can be charged at 409 charging points distributed across depots in the city area.
Two years ago, the company switched to exclusively emission-free deliveries in the 1000 postcode area, which covers Brussels city centre. Since then, bpost has been able to extend this to all 19 independent municipalities in the metropolitan area. However, when looking at the country as a whole, this environmentally friendly method of delivery is still far from being the status quo. Only 14 per cent of parcel deliveries in Belgium are emission-free.
“The Brussels-Capital Region aims for cleaner air and calmer mobility. Extending bpost’s emission-free model for daily postal rounds to all 19 municipalities shows that high-performance logistics and a more breathable city can go hand in hand,” said Karin Enzlin, Head of Sustainability Belgium at bpostgroup. “Even in challenging times, we remain firmly on course and continue to pursue our sustainability strategy.”
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