DHL, an international express shipping provider, advanced several sustainability initiatives this month. The goal is to minimize the impact of DHL’s shipping network on the environment. The announcement coincides with the U.S. Department of Energy’s initiative promoting conservation and a clean energy economy during National Energy Awareness Month.
On September 30th, DHL completed its deployment of a green fleet of pickup and delivery vehicles in Manhattan. This fleet includes 30 battery-powered electric vans and 50 hybrid trucks and enables DHL to cut CO2 emissions by more than 50 percent each year in comparison to conventional vehicles. The battery-powered electric vehicles are charged with green electricity provided by ConEdison Solutions and produced from renewable energy sources such as wind. DHL has been integrating the new vehicles into its fleet while phasing out gas-powered models.
At the same time, a new environmentally-friendly Paperless Clearance feature will enable DHL customers to electronically transmit documents to Customs—eliminating the need to print and manually attach them to shipments. Available on October 31 as part of a new DHL-USA.com website, the new feature is also designed to save customers shipment preparation time. By eliminating having to attach hard copy export documents like Certificates of Origin, Commercial and Pro Forma Invoices, DHL expects that customers will collectively save millions of sheets of paper each year; reducing waste.
A DHL GOGREEN Carbon Neutral service, available to Express import and export customers in 41 countries, enables customers to offset their estimated CO2 emissions for a service charge that is used by DHL to invest in Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) environmental protection projects.
Standard Chartered Bank is the first bank to adopt DHL GOGREEN Carbon Neutral service globally, signing a worldwide contract to make 95% of the bank’s international courier services carbon neutral.
“Energy efficiency is the largest ecological challenge faced by transportation companies such as ours,” said Ian Clough, CEO of DHL Express U.S. “We are constantly looking at innovative ways to reduce our carbon footprint.”
