Royal Mail announces new strategies to help reduce its carbon footprint

Royal Mail is investing in more than 300 green upgrades to heating, lighting and water systems across its estate, including its first gas-free heating method, as part of the company’s strategy to be Net-Zero by 2040.

The improvements will save the company 3,500t CO2 equivalent a year, on top of the reduction in emissions already being realised across the fleet and supply chain.

Royal Mail’s property estate consists of more than 1,200 operational sites and offices around the UK, which currently account for around eight per cent of total emissions.

The new investments include a range of energy saving solutions such as motion sensor lighting, centrally controlled heating and water efficiency systems to reduce waste as well as gas-free heating methods.

Beyond the environmental benefits, Royal Mail expects to see significant returns on investment by reducing utilities bills.

Stuart Hookins, Royal Mail Director of Property & Facilities Solutions, said: “Our property estate is one of the largest in the country and it plays an important role in helping us meet our goal of being Net-Zero by 2040.  Effective energy management, new building technologies and investment in our portfolio and assets are key to unlocking the improvements we need to achieve our objectives.”

 Decarbonising heating

 Over the next year, several sites will become the first to move to gas-free heating such as Air Source Heat Pumps and heat networks. This is the early stages of Royal Mail’s longer-term strategy to significantly reduce the use of gas across the estate to meet the goal of being Net-Zero by 2040.

In the shorter term, as options for zero-carbon heating solutions develop, Royal Mail will upgrade existing boilers to new, more efficient versions whilst continuing to establish the most suitable long-term options for the estate.

Energy saving technologies

As part of the upgrades, almost 100 sites will be programmed for complete LED upgrades including the addition of motion sensors, reducing demand for electricity. This will reduce electricity demand at the sites both reducing environmental impact but also enabling the site’s grid capacity to be used for potential electric vehicle charging or electric heating solutions in future.

More than 120 sites will have their heating systems upgraded so they can be controlled centrally by a new Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) being installed, ensuring heating is not excessive and can be programmed to only be on when needed.

Up to 80 sites will receive water efficiency improvements such as urinal controls, which is expected to save a significant amount of water per year.

Steps to Zero

Royal Mail’s ‘Steps to Zero’ environment strategy set a goal of achieving Net-Zero by 2040, with a 50% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030. The company has already reduced Scope 1 & 2 emissions 18% since 2020 and has the lowest emissions per parcel of any courier, at 200gCO2e.

Royal Mail recently announced the planned deployment of an additional 2,100 electric vans across its delivery fleet, adding to the existing 5,000, and the purchase of c.27 million litres of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) to fuel its heavy goods vehicle fleets this year.