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An Post has said it is on course to reach its goal of reducing emissions across its fleet by 50% ahead of its end of 2025 target date.
The state-owned company is also on track to reduce electricity use across its buildings by 40% next year, and recently became the first postal service in the world to operate in a LEED Platinum and Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) headquarters with its move to the EXO Building.
Releasing its 2023 sustainability report, the postal service has announced the planned conversion of the majority of its national HGV and delivery van fleet to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) fuels.
“Thanks to the great effort across the organisation An Post is now going to achieve its main target of 50% cut in emissions ahead of the end of 2025 target date,” said David McRedmond, CEO of An Post.
“But climate action is just one element of sustainability. This year An Post will begin a major drive to grow the Circular Economy, establishing re-use and re-sale as regular, everyday practice for people of all ages.
“The postal service will be the engine for selling and sending, through exciting, great-value products and services and emission-free deliveries.”
An Post has to date invested over €71m in sustainability capital expenditure to support its decarbonisation, and the company expects that figure to rise to €100m by next year.
The firm has also converted 17 of its its large trucks in Galway and Cork to HVO, reducing their carbon emissions by 91.8% compared to when they were powered by diesel fuel.
An Post said the wider switch to HVO vehicles is a critical part of its drive to achieve net zero emissions in its own operations by 2030.
The company already has 1,099 electric vehicles, 164 e-trikes, three 7.5-tonne trucks and over 1,300 EV chargers.
CO2 emissions per item delivered by An Post fell 12% for letters and 4.4% for packets and parcels last year with the continued electrification of its fleet and expanded use of HVO in place of diesel.
“I commend An Post for their ongoing commitments and achievements to decarbonise their operations. They are now moving to a new phase of activity, building on their many recent successes,” said Minister of State at the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications Jack Chambers.
“The organisation is on target to reduce emissions by 50% by 2025 as well as achieve 40% reduction in the use of electricity across their buildings. In particular, I welcome An Post’s expanded use of HVO which has dramatically cut its carbon emissions following a successful trial in 2022.
“An Post, in supporting the government’s sustainability policy, is proving that what is good for the planet can be good for business too.”
An Post also announced that it restored over 6,500 sq m of ground around postal depot land banks through the planting of wildflower meadows and native tree/hedgerow species in 2023 as part of its No Mow May campaign with the National Biodiversity Data Centre.
The company is set to release a series of honeycomb-shaped stamps to celebrate four native Irish bees, which will be available at selected post offices and at anpost.com/shop.
Photo: Sophie Kelly from 1st class in Kennedy Park National School in Wexford with An Post’s new bee-themed stamps.
(Pic: MAXWELLS)
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