Almost all packages and letters delivered to households by Belgian postal company bpost in Brussels city centre (with postal code 1000) are now being carried without emissions, the company announced on Wednesday.
Last year, the government announced that it would focus on reducing its CO2 emissions by 60% with a number of measures outlined in a "Durability Charter". This included the electrification of its delivery fleet and using bicycle trailers. Bpost has seen a huge rise in the volume of packages it delivers.
The success of this modal shift is clear to see in the heart of Brussels, where almost all personal letters and parcels are delivered in a carbon-neutral manner – whether on foot, by the company's 61 electric vehicles, or the 14 electric bicycle trailers (cargo bikes).
The company has made the modal shift to electric vehicles and electric bike trailers to lower emissions. Credit: bpost
Aside from drastically reducing emissions of carbon and fine particulate matter, the multi-modal green fleet also helps cut urban congestion, in line with the local circulation plan.
Bpost is also pushing the option to collect parcels at pick-up points close; this would minimise the number of journeys that end in an unsuccessful delivery.
Urban ecozones
To further cut emissions, bpost has created a network of 31 pick-up points (seven parcel lockers, 20 post points and parcel points, and four post offices) based on strategic location and accessibility criteria. This means that residents have no more than 500 metres to go to collect a parcel.
This marks the first step of a larger "Ecozone" project the company is working on in the region, with the aim of ensuring all deliveries in its 19 municipalities will be made emission-free by 2025 by drawing on this combination of different logistics solutions.
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By the same date, it aims to establish zero-emission deliveries in 25 Belgian cities. The other current "Ecozones" are Leuven, Namur, Mons and Louvain-la-Neuve and Mechelen, where it cut carbon emissions from home deliveries and deliveries to pick-up points by 97%.
