In 2018, PostNL set itself new ambitious long-term targets to further reduce CO2 emissions. By 2030 at the latest, all parcel and mail deliveries in the Benelux region will be emission-free in the last-mile. As an intermediary step, by 2025, all deliveries in 25 city centres will be emission-free. To help achieve these targets, PostNL is always looking for innovative products and services.
PostNL introduced the Fashionpack in 2018, a letterbox vacuum-packed parcel designed for the apparel industry. Made of resilient materials, the product requires less resources to manufacture and is much easier to transport. This results in environmental savings in both materials and carbon emissions, as well as reduced costs for mail order clothing businesses. As the product is reusable, it can also be used for returns. Volumes of traditional letters are declining, and the product makes good use of the existing underutilised letter mail network infrastructure.
The delivery of each Fashionpack parcel emits an estimated 152 grams of CO2, under half that of a normal parcel (374g). In 2018, 150,000 Fashionpacks were sold to the industry. Based on these figures, the initiative could save up to 33.3 tonnes of CO2 in delivery emissions each year, and potentially more if reuse is factored in.