FDBusiness.com

Dairy company FrieslandCampina Benelux, food producer HJ Heinz Benelux and logistics service provider Nabuurs have launched an initiative to further increase the efficiency of their supply activities in the Netherlands. It involves combining consignments from each manufacturer to reduce transport-related emissions of CO2.

The combined initiative is part of the strategy underlying the Dutch Lean & Green Award, which the three companies won in 2010 for their plans to reduce the CO2 emissions associated with their logistical activities by 20% over a five-year period. To cut their transport-related emissions, the three companies teamed up with clients of HJ Heinz and FrieslandCampina Benelux to investigate ways of combining their deliveries.

Clients who order less than a full truck-load of goods have been supplied along these lines since mid-April 2011. This reduces the annual kilometrage driven. Combining deliveries also means reducing the overall number of deliveries that need to be made. This new loading combination cuts the number of deliveries by more than 3,000 a year, thereby helping to minimise pressure on the Dutch road transport network. The initiative is substantially reducing the number of delivery kilometres travelled, saving over 90,000 kilograms of CO2 per annum. This is equivalent to a CO2 reduction of over 5%, i.e. a quarter of the total 20% reduction target.