Tackling The Environmental Impact Of Parcel Deliveries
There is a huge amount of hype around smart cities and creating a more sustainable future, but one key factor in creating environmentally friendly building that is often overlooked is parcel deliveries. Here, Ian Caminsky, SVP & MD Parcel Locker Solutions at Quadient, discusses how parcel lockers present facilities managers and property developers with a solution to reduce delivery emissions and provide residents with more eco-friendly living options.
COP objectives, achieving net-zero, and creating a more sustainable future are currently top of the agenda for an increasing number of governments, businesses, and even individuals. The record temperatures and extreme weather of this year to date have only emphasised the urgent need to take action.
This is a problem for everybody but making densely populated and urban areas more sustainable is a particular priority. The need to reduce air pollution and emissions is top of the list, so much so that Mayor Sadiq Khan has set a target to make London net-zero carbon by 2030. It is no surprise that road vehicles are one of the biggest causes of air pollution in cities, producing nearly half of all nitrogen oxides and emitting rubber and metal particles into the air we breathe.
Deliveries are a significant contributor to the number of vehicles on the road, with the volume of parcels being delivered having overtaken letters for the first time. The popularity of online shopping is only going to continue increasing and so it is the responsibility of city planners, new housing developers, facilities managers, and carriers to find innovative solutions that consolidate and streamline deliveries to reduce the environmental impact of delivery traffic.
More Congested Roads
As consumer demands have changed in recent years, one thing has become clear: ease and convenience will always win. We’ve seen the boom in online shopping reduce the need for consumers to travel to stores, and now next-day-delivery has become the norm. But with the average UK adult receiving 74 parcel deliveries a year and in dense urban areas where 300-400 people can live in a single building, this can attract up to tens of thousands of deliveries a year per building.
This vast number of shipments is increasing the number of vans on the roads and bringing higher levels of emissions with it. Freight and deliveries already account for a quarter of London’s total carbon emissions from transport; the World Economic Forum believes the number of delivery vehicles in the top 100 cities worldwide will increase by 36% until 2030. As a result, emissions from delivery traffic will increase by 32% and congestion will rise by over 21%.
While much of the focus of new developments has been on energy efficient infrastructure, sustainable architecture and green building materials, developments also need to focus on reducing traffic. This isn’t only important as a measure to reduce emissions, alongside initiatives such as Ultra Low Emissions Zones. It is also an important element in creating Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs), a crucial step towards creating safer and more liveable environments. Plus, it is likely that more of these zones and neighbourhoods will be introduced across the country, and so property managers will need to find new ways to comply with sustainable regulations or risk fines.
Taking Action To Be More Sustainable
It’s clear that the number of deliveries isn’t going to reduce, but there are now innovative solutions available to reduce the carbon impact of these packages.
For carriers there are a few potential options. We’re already starting to see delivery fleets move to electric vehicles, and some companies are even offering rented electric vehicle hubs for last-mile logistics services. This move to electric will help to cut emissions and make carriers compliant with government schemes, such as ULEZ.
As well as introducing electric vehicles, deliveries could be consolidated, with carriers working together to serve an area or business, or group deliveries on the same day. TfL is currently trying to coordinate such an approach with their ‘Rethinking deliveries’ scheme. The aim is to help manage levels of congestion and improve the environmental impact of deliveries.
Consumers can also play a part. Some retailers offer greener delivery options, such as ‘Amazon Days’ where consumers can receive all orders at once to save on trips. This is common practice for supermarkets, which cluster customers by location to provide greener delivery slots. As consumers increasingly choose more sustainable shopping approaches, we’ll hopefully see more retailers offer similarly greener fulfilment options.
Smart parcel lockers offer a different and innovative approach to deliveries and give city and infrastructure planners, and facilities managers, a new option to consider. Parcel lockers give residents and delivery companies a single location to drop off and receive parcels – reducing their environmental impact and offering more convenience to consumers. Parcel lockers could be installed inside housing developments and on the street to provide a secure self-service way to receive packages of any size and at any time.
Placing these lockers at key entranceways can consolidate deliveries and remove the need for drivers to travel to multiple locations or inside the development. This would significantly reduce traffic within dense urban areas and limit the distance vehicles have to travel, improving safety and cutting emissions at the same time. Another key contributor to parcel emissions is not only the volume, but also the need for repeat visits due to missed deliveries. Parcel lockers guarantee delivery first time, further helping reduce traffic in and around neighbourhoods.
Delivering A Sustainable Future
Smart parcel lockers offer a different and innovative approach to deliveries and give facilities managers a new option to consider. Parcel lockers give facilities managers a single location to drop off and receive parcels – reducing their environmental impact and offering more convenience to everyone in the building. Parcel lockers could be installed inside the building to provide a secure self-service way to receive packages of any size and at any time, no matter if the reception is open or not.
Placing these lockers at key entranceways also means that facilities managers can help those in the building reduce the environmental impact of deliveries beyond just business packages. As more people return to the office, offering parcel lockers can consolidate deliveries and remove the need for drivers to travel to personal as well as business locations. This would significantly reduce traffic within dense urban areas and limit the distance vehicles have to travel, improving safety and cutting emissions at the same time. Another key contributor to parcel emissions is not only the volume, but also the need for repeat visits due to missed deliveries. Parcel lockers guarantee delivery first time, further helping reduce traffic in and around neighbourhoods.
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