GLS Netherlands has started operating its first “green” depot in Enschede, eastern Netherlands,to considerably increase the handling capacity compared to the previous facility while deploying
energy-saving technology.At the 1,500 sqm terminal, GLS has installed high-performance conveyor technology to sort up to5,000 parcels and packages a day. Vans and long distance vehicles can be loaded and unloaded at the38 loading gates. Around 40 employees at the site in Enschede are responsible for sorting, pickingup and delivering the parcels.
“More ecology for more economy – at our new location in the Transport Centre Enschede we usethree different environmental techniques to conserve resources and increase efficiency,” said MiloKars, GLS General Manager Netherlands.
A heat pump system reduces the CO2 emissions as the primary heating source at the €2.3 milliondepot. At the same time, the technology on site is expected to save 40% of the operational costs.The very energy-efficient lighting system and rain water treatment system with appropriate seepingareas also contribute to ecologically economical performance improvement, GLS Netherlandsexplained.
The company said its green depot in the seventh of its kind in the Europe-wide GLS network. Aspart of its Think Green initiative launched in 2008, GLS keeps in mind ecologically economicalsynergy effects when constructing new facilities, expanding or replacing the existing ones.
GLS Netherlands was the first subsidiary in the group certified for its environmental systemwith the ISO 14001. As the next environmental measure, the company plans to deploy overlong longdistance delivery vehicles from October onwards to minimise its fuel consumption and toxicemissions.
