DHL Express is seeking green certification for all its French sites before the end of this year aspart of a wide range of measures by the group to increase its environmental standards.
The carrier said that seven express centres had now been awarded ISO 14001 environmentalmanagement system certification, which has also been obtained by 26 DHL Global Forwarding centres.The newly-certified express operations are at Flévy, Lorient, Bordeaux, Yvrac, Nice, Roissy andMarseille l’Estaque.
“Our objective is to certify the whole of our express and courier sites in France by 2008,”said Jean Laguèrie, DHL Express France’s quality, environment and support director.
“To do this, we are engaged in a process of continuous improvement, aiming to reduce our fuelconsumption, atmospheric emissions, electrical consumption, dispose of a compliant waste removalnetwork and optimise packaging management,” Laguèrie said.
Almost a half (44%) of DHL Express sites in Europe are now ISO-certified for environmentalmanagement, the Deutsche Post company said.
In France, the new site at Flèvy has several environmental innovations, with high-performanceequipment, natural lighting and solar panels to heat water.
DHL Express France is also renewing its vehicle fleet to Euro 4 anti-pollution standards.This year 20% of HGVs are to be changed, 20% in 2008 and 25% per year thereafter. Light vehiclesare to be changed at the rate of 40% a year over the next two years.
The company has also been running training courses since last June to show drivers how to usefuel economically – “eco-driving” – and has created a five-point environmental charter, displayedon posters at each of its centres, to promote positive practices by the company as a whole andstaff.
