Colissimo, CSR for eco-responsible delivery
Since 2012, La Poste - Colissimo has been actively committed to CSR and has been undertaking initiatives to encourage environmentally-responsible parcel delivery for more responsible e-commerce.
Colissimo is committed, alongside Groupe La Poste, to CSR for eco-friendly delivery.
Groupe La Poste assessed the issues involved in the environmental transition long before being confronted by the climate emergency that we are faced with today. For over 20 years, the Groupe has been actively committed to reducing the environmental impact of its business by developing an effective model of environmentally-responsible delivery.
The status of ‘company with a mission’, obtained in 2021, confirmed La Poste's goals and commitments, which are in line with the objectives of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change (COP21):
- by 2025: 30% reduction of its Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, 100% electric or soft mode delivery in 44 Low Emission Zones (LEZ)
- by 2030: progressive decarbonisation with the objective of achieving a 1.5°C-compatible commitment, 50% of kilometres travelled using low-carbon energy
- by 2040: Zero Net Emissions
The Groupe has placed particular importance on the initiatives of its private parcel delivery service, Colissimo, in the pursuit of these objectives. The last mile, “stacked bulk”, the use of alternative energy: La Poste is actively helping consumers use other modes of environmentally-friendly delivery.
Groupe La Poste: firmly committed to more responsible consumption
La Poste's policy of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is based on four major commitments: the environmental transition, responsible delivery, social and regional cohesion and the responsible employer. Today this model approach illustrates the Groupe's expertise, and is deployed on several levels:
- The eco-design of its physical and digital offers and services
- Steering and measuring the CO2 emissions of all of the Groupe's activities
- Optimising and reducing its carbon footprint
Engagements au service d'une consommation plus responsable
Poids lourd longue distance électrique Colissimo
All of these actions are contributing to the development and reinforcement of a more ecological delivery and consumption model, including, in particular:
- The use of electric vehicles to manage the first and last kilometre (operated by La Poste). La Poste has one of Europe's biggest fleets of electric vehicles, and only 36,5% of its fleet uses combustion engines
- The development of the ecological rating and a corresponding calculator, intended to raise consumer awareness concerning best shipping and reception practices for letters and parcels
To this end, on many occasions La Poste has been recognised for the success and high level of its CSR, and in particular has been awarded the Diversity Label, which promotes diversity in the public and private sectors. Le Groupe is also a leader in overall corporate CSR performance as determined by the non-financial rating agency EcoVadis, achieving a score of 77/100.
Colissimo: eco-responsible delivery everywhere, for everyone, right now.
Since then, Colissimo has strengthened its environmental policy by significantly reducing its environmental impact each year, in line with market trends and the expectations of e-consumers.
Since then, Colissimo has reinforced its policy of carbon neutrality. Its strategy is not only to offset its CO2 emissions, but also to actively reduce them each year while monitoring market developments and e-consumer expectations.
The initiatives it has undertaken for a more ecological parcel delivery service prioritise shipping, which alone accounts for 90% of CO2 emissions. The results can already be seen:
- In 2023, 1 in 4 parcels is delivered within 24 hours with no increase in CO2 emissions; in fact, emissions were reduced by 12% in the same period. The objective is to continue efforts to reduce emissions by 45% by 2030
- Between 2013 and 2023, CO2 emissions were cut by 49% per parcel
- By the end of 2023, parcel deliveries in Paris will be 100% decarbonised. Other towns will achieve the same result in the years to come
Livraison dernier kilomètre - Le vélo-cargo Colissimo
The environmental transition for more ecological parcel delivery
Colissimo has implemented a concrete action plan to help achieve Le Groupe's responsible delivery objectives.
Buildings are the source of 10% of the CO2 emissions generated by the service's business. Colissimo is actively committed to reducing related energy consumption, and encourages clean construction that uses renewable energy via certificates of origin, for its sorting platforms.
For more environmentally-friendly parcel shipping, Colissimo is introducing more swap bodies and is generalising stored bulk, which improves lorry load rates. Together, these two initiatives will result in an observed cumulative reduction of 70,000 T of CO2 between 2021 and 2030. Finally, by creating new road links, the overall number of kilometres travelled can be optimised, preventing the emission of 15,000 T of CO2 per year.
Colissimo is also working on the progressive decarbonisation of national and regional road links by using alternative energies, with the development of Bio-NGV and bio-fuels starting in 2023.
Furthermore, the deployment of the HUB function in the Colissimo shipping organisation and the modification of the areas of expertise of the parcel sorting platforms have enabled sorting capacities to be adjusted at each platform, thus optimising the kilometres travelled. Already in 2023, this represented a decrease of 12% of the number of kms travelled on national roadways.
Just like Groupe La Poste, which is a solution provider and has signed the charter for responsible e-commerce issued by the Ministry for the Environmental Transition along with numerous e-retailers, Colissimo is committed to more responsible, ethical and innovative practices.
This also involves encouraging the use of La Poste’s ecological rating, teaming up with the company Hipli to tackle problems related to re-usable packaging, sourcing solutions for recycled and recyclable securing systems, and leading a consortium of experts, including Afnor, to create a new Specification with the goal of changing practices with respect to packaging materials.
