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The first test delivery is the result of an internal study done on time spent in traffic jams and the increasing difficulties of parking and traffic in town, plus a study on the impact of the growth of vehicles in Switzerland - 4 million in 2009, of which 660,000 are in the canton of Zurich alone. The objective was to research faster solutions and to reduce CO2 emissions.

In 2009, Switzerland experienced 11,829 hours of congestion (or 45 hours per working day across the network). In 2008, there were only 10,048 hours of traffic jams, an increase of 18% in one year. Road traffic is also growing at an average of 4% per year. Experts agree that the trend will not be reversed.
As for CFF, the railway company of French-speaking Switzerland, its main Zurich station welcomes more than 350,000 visitors every day. They are often customers of Shopville – Railcity, a shopping centre with more than 100 shops that need to replenish their stocks, and DPD is supporting these steadily increasing traffic flows.
DPD Switzerland delivers every day to Zurich station. And like every Swiss railway station with a shopping mall, our drivers have to make their way through traffic jams, find a parking place and make deliveries at different levels throughout the station.

After a necessary phase of consultation, the partnership between DPD Switzerland and CFF means that packages can be transported from Buchs station and delivered directly into the shops at Zurich station.
 
Zero CO2 but also zero stress for our drivers who can focus on other clients.
 

The rail link replaces the previous transport operations by truck on this route and saves CO2 emissions of approx. 16.5 tonnes. The rail transport is implemented on behalf of DPD Germany by Hellmann Rail Solutions, which connects business centres in the north of Germany to Basle, Frankfurt, Nuremberg and Regensburg/Landshut (Bavaria) by means of daily rail shipments.

"In the long term and after further fine tuning, intermodal shipping will also be a practicable transport option for providers of parcel and express services, and one which will enable us to make further improvements to our carbon footprint", confirms Dr. Armin Bohnhoff, Managing Director Technology & Operations at DPD GeoPost (Germany). "The decisive precondition is reliable quality in rail transport." For reasons of sustainability, DPD Germany has tested rail transport on a number of occasions in the past, but its fluctuating quality led to longer delivery times, with the result that transport operations were always switched back to the road. "There's no doubt that the train is the most sustainable mode of land transport. However, in the past it has not been able to compete with the truck in the kind of time window our customers require because rail transport was slower and less flexible," adds Dr. Bohnhoff.

This new test run is intended to show to what extent present-day intermodal transport meets DPD's requirements with regard to speed, reliability and flexibility. The Hamburg-Nuremberg link provided by Hellmann Rail Solutions is especially suitable for the transport of parcels by rail. The reason for this is that the distances between the container rail terminals and the DPD depots in Nuremberg and Hamburg are short and the shift times at these locations are a good match for the departure and arrival times of the swap bodies. In addition the parcel volumes shipped by the depots in both directions are more or less the same, which enables balanced and therefore economically viable shipping with two swap bodies each. However, in order to reach the train on time the swap bodies need to leave the depot earlier than is the case with trucks, which means that the swap bodies have to be loaded even before the final completion of the sorting process at the depot.

"Regardless of the means of transport we aim to offer our customers fast delivery, late pickup times and a high level of reliability", explains Dr. Bohnhoff. "To a large extent this is only possible with flexibly designed road transport. However, I'm sure that the test run will produce good results. In the long term it may be possible to switch other routes to transport by rail, too."

The company has already launched a wide spectrum of activities aimed at minimising CO2 emissions, ranging from energy-saving programmes at depots via the avoidance of air transport to the use of electric vehicles for the delivery of parcels. The GeoPost Group, majority shareholder in DPD, regularly draws up a detailed environmental audit which also integrates the key data of DPD in Germany.

The participants to this competition were some prototype vehicles using alternative fuels, like photovoltaic energy or hydrogen.

As the aim of this event is to promote sustainability, the winner is not the first prototype to cross the finish, but the one making more kilometers with less energy consumption, although keeping an average speed of 25 kms per hour.
SEUR contribution to this initiative, however, was not only to sponsor the race, but also to transport for free all the ecologic prototypes from different parts of Spain to Cartagena and to the rest of locations where they were required.
After the race, on Sunday, 3rd October 2010, the prototypes, together with a SEUR ecologic vehicle, were exhibited in an urban cycle along Gran Via, Murcia main street. Mayte Rubio, HR & RSC manager of SEUR Alicante, remitted one of the awards at the closing ceremony.

This action and other similar ones, like the Shell Eco-Marathon held in Germany last year with SEUR participation too, are part of the company’s commitment to sustainable mobility and, therefore, an example of its intention to build a cleaner and more sustainable world.

In close co-operation, Nespresso and DPD have launched a recycling-flow for used coffee capsules in Belgium & Luxembourg, as one of the first countries worldwide.

Based on the transport network of DPD Belgium & DPD Luxembourg, Nespresso has launched these days a recycling-flow for home delivered coffee capsules. Thanks to the collection-upon-delivery-service of DPD, all private customers of Nespresso receiving new coffee capsules have the opportunity to directly return used aluminium capsules via the DPD driver. The DPD driver then takes these used capsules back in a special bag and feeds them into a closed, systematic recycling-flow.

The recycling of coffee capsules via DPD helps to protect the environment and has positive effects. One is that this recycling-flow cuts down driven kilometres and reduces CO2-emission due to the fact that the DPD driver delivers new capsules and at the same time takes back the used-ones.

“DPD gladly supports its customers in the execution of their sustainable development initiatives”, quotes Marc Hasler, Chief Executive Officer of DPD Belgium & Luxembourg.  “With this new recycling-flow, our long-lasting partnership with Nespresso enters a new dimension. On the basis of our more than 300 tours across Belgium & Luxembourg, DPD enables Nespresso to successfully launch such a systematic SD initiative,” says Marc Hasler.

DPD Schweiz’s parcel delivery operation produces tens of tonnes of CO2 every day. Some of this CO2 is absorbed by plants and contributes to the reduction of the greenhouse effect and therefore of global warming.
Several industry solutions are identified or implemented to limit the impact on the greenhouse effect and its climate consequences (hurricanes, floods….) :

• Reducing CO2 emissions by promoting route optimisation, new engines and natural gas or electric vehicles.
• Limiting the indirect production of CO2 by reducing consumption of electricity from coal power stations (by developing solar panels or wind farms)
• Storing CO2 by injecting it into strata (sequestration in soil)

DPD Schweiz’s partnership with the University of Zurich
Through its Sustainable Development Plan, DPD Schweiz aims to reduce its CO2 emissions. The University of Zurich measures and seeks to capture a maximum of CO2 to promote plant growth. A partnership between these two entities whose activity is totally complementary makes complete sense.

A team led by Professor Michael Schmidt, director of the Laboratory of Biogeography, presented its work to the Senior Management Team of DPD Schweiz AG.

The laboratory's work focused on the study of the carbon cycle in the plant world. Carbon is absorbed by plants, which produce oxygen through photosynthesis.

The laboratory uses highly sophisticated measuring devices to study the carbon absorption rate and external factors likely to accelerate and strengthen the cycle.
 
In this way after several years of research, the Laboratory developed various techniques that can be used at a commercial level. One specific technique consists of pyrolising organic materials (heating them without oxygen at more than 700 degrees) before spreading them on agricultural land. This technique, which increases plants’ absorption capacity and thus their growth, is currently being tested in Lausanne and the residue obtained – known as Biochar – is spread on vineyard soil in the Valais area.

Other applications are being prepared to improve soil fertility in poor countries or in crops needing a higher carbon supply, such as cereal crops.

Since the launch of its sustainable development plan in July 2009, all DPD Schweiz AG employees and subcontractors have committed to it. The company manages its overall CO2 emissions and through renewing its vehicle fleet, CO2 emissions have fallen (the fleet now includes around 15 natural gas vehicles). An electric vehicle will be tested soon in Geneva city centre. After reducing energy consumption, using paper responsibly and implementing waste recovery, DPD Schweiz expects to gain ISO 14001 certification in 2011

Focus on the University of Zurich
The University was founded in the 16th century and now has 25,000 students. International rankings put it amongst the top twenty universities in Europe. Lectures are taught in German or English in financial business, scientific and social disciplines. The University counts amongst its former students and professors one Albert Einstein, as well as many Nobel Prize winners.