‘Rhegreen’ service offers the opportunity to choose a carrier or routing with a lower carbon footprint, enabling reductions of 10-40% in CO2 emissions
Rhenus Logistics has introduced what it claims is the first worldwide air freight carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction programme in the world.
The European logistics provider said its free-of-charge Rhegreen service offers the opportunity to choose a ‘greener’ aircraft for the shipment of cargo by air freight. It said its freight forwarding unit, Rhenus Logistics Air & Ocean, had established a system that calculates rankings for airlines by considering the aircraft types, fuel efficiency and the distances involved. The system is based on which aircraft is the most efficient in terms of carbon dioxide emissions on any route.
The calculation system, which was validated by an external organisation, enables reductions of between 10% and 40% in CO2 emissions, the company said. For example, by choosing the Airbus A350 or Boeing 787 Dreamliner for the shipment of 1,000 kilogrammes from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol to Shanghai, customers can save one tonne of CO2 in comparison to the average CO2 emissions on that particular route.
Rhenus is now offering the Rhegreen service initially from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol to five destinations: Chicago, Mexico City, Mumbai, Shanghai and Singapore, with plans to expand to other destinations from Frankfurt, Brussels, Madrid and other origins in the coming months.
Rhegreen was developed by Krista Zuurmond, quality manager for Rhenus Logistics Air & Ocean in the Netherlands, and Frank Swart, head of air procurement and product development. Their aim is to create awareness of the possibility of sending air freight with lower CO2 emissions and thus lead to heightened awareness throughout the entire logistics chain, Rhenus said.
“The demand for a sustainable supply chain continues to grow,” said Tobias Bartz, a Rhenus board member. “Rhegreen is a major step in offering our customers the choice to reduce the CO2 emissions of their air freight. The roll-out of this free-of-charge service will offer our customers the opportunity to partner together with Rhenus on creating a more sustainable future.”
Rhegreen is one of several projects that are part of a corporate initiative entitled Rhevo, a Rhenus in-house innovation initiative to encourage and motivate employees to identify and further develop innovative ideas on processes and products, by means of digital concepts, as well as establish new ideas on services.
The Rhenus Group is a global logistics services provider with an annual turnover of €4.8 billion, employing 29,000 people at 610 locations worldwide.
