As Electrolux Group emits more greenhouse gases transporting its goods than manufacturing them, decarbonizing the Group’s transportation is essential to achieve its Climate Goals.
The Group has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions from land and sea transportation by 24% and 31% respectively since 2015. In 2023, approximately 270,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide were emitted through the distribution of Electrolux Group’s goods by sea, air and main markets for land transportation.
The Group is working on multiple fronts to decarbonize the transportation of its goods and products around the world. This includes shifting to intermodal and rail shipments, increasing the proportion of renewable fuels or electrification, evaluating the environmental performance of carriers and optimizing the utilization of trucks and shipping containers.
Going intermodal and renewable
By gradually switching to intermodal shipping containers, the Group is optimizing its logistics by enabling multiple modes of transport for single deliveries.
“Intermodal transport allows us to use rail transport instead of trucks where possible, which not only reduces our emissions and costs, but also avoids road traffic congestion,” explains Paolo Galli, VP Logistics. “We have not only reduced our land transport emissions by 24% compared to 2015, but we have also decreased our emissions from air cargo by over 80% compared to 2021.”
Increasing the proportion of renewable fuels such as biogas and biodiesel and electrification have also been crucial to decarbonize the Group’s transport. Electrolux Group uses electric trucks and biofuels for road transport in several countries, and more than a third of its containers are now shipped using biofuels such as certified waste oils and biomethane.
Continuous evaluation and optimization
Electrolux Group has used an environmental score card to evaluate the performance of its carriers since 2015. The score card includes criteria on eco-driving, fuel-consumption follow-up, tire pressure and engine Euro class levels.
“Our scorecard encourages our carriers to implement concrete actions that reduce our climate impact,” says Galli. “We also regularly monitor the utilization level of our trucks and containers to optimize our transport and typically achieve an average of 95% space utilization from all our deliveries from our European factories to our Distribution Center.”
Partnering on transport decarbonization
Electrolux Group cannot decarbonize its transport alone and promotes close collaboration by inviting different actors to share its ambitions and challenges. The Group has continuous dialogue with the logistics industry to share best practice in transport management as a member of the US Environmental Protection Agency-led SmartWay and the Smart Freight Centre initiative with commitments to decrease road and sea transport-related emissions respectively.
“We have excellent partnerships with carriers and truck manufacturers for example,” concludes Galli. “Together, we can adopt low-emission solutions that are cost-effective for all the partners involved.”
MAIN IMAGE: Artem Zhukov