April 26 2022
Nestlé food and drink products will now be delivered around the UK and Ireland by trucks which emit up to 95% less carbon. This significant reduction in emissions comes after the company switched 75% of its owned fleet of trucks from diesel to Bio-LNG, a liquefied gas which is a by product of waste. The move is a significant step towards Nestlé’s commitment to be net zero by 2050.
Nestlé has been exploring solutions to reduce its carbon emissions in its transport and logistics network since 2017. The company chose to switch to Bio-LNG fuel as it is a renewable source of energy suitable for powering trucks around its transport network.
This fuel conversion project has taken several years to get on the road thanks to the complex nature of the delivery network and the journey to this interim milestone has been challenging. Sally Wright, Head of Delivery at Nestlé UK and Ireland, said: “Running a network to ensure goods are transported around the country in a timely and efficient manner, while reducing our carbon footprint, is a complicated task. Considerations such as the refuelling facilities of Bio-LNG, the weight of the goods the truck carry and the range restrictions of alternate fuels, has meant that every step of the journey needs to be meticulously planned.
“We’ve worked with a number of partners in order to make the change and collaboration has been key. We wouldn’t have been able to get these trucks on the road without industry collaboration,” added Wright.
The switch to Bio-LNG for the Nestlé owned fleet is just one of the ways Nestlé is reducing its carbon footprint. The Logistics team is currently working with haulage partners as they transition to alternative fuels. Another specific initiative sees Nestlé working collaboratively with customers and other manufacturers to increase the amount of product on each vehicle. Maximising each truck’s delivery capacity will ultimately reduce the number of vehicles on the road and subsequently shrink the company’s carbon footprint.
Over the next two years, the remaining fleet of Nestlé owned trucks at the end of their commercial life will be replaced with trucks using alternative fuels to diesel.
“I am extremely pleased we have been able to make this transition and reveal the new, more sustainable trucks now and look forward even more of them of the road in the near future. I am really proud of the Logistics’ team’s efforts over the last few years to make this happen and would like to thank everyone involved,” said Wright.