TOPS and DPD Sustainable partners

At Tops, we are aware of the importance of clean air at all times. Indoors and outdoors. We transport many parcels annually, in which emissions are a necessary incidental.

To ensure that the transport of our products is as clean as possible, we work with DPD Netherlands. They are working towards zero emissions in 2040. That is 10 years earlier than the climate agreement would require. As we are very interested in the steps to be taken, we talked to Peter Tuijtelaars, Compliance & Sustainability Coordinator at DPD Netherlands.

Since 2008, Peter works at DPD Netherlands, where he is responsible for complying with and implementing the Sustainability Promise and associated steps. What is his motivation?

“I am immensely driven by the realization that making the right choices has a major impact on the world of today and tomorrow. In my profession, you keep immersing yourself in the matter, resulting in several eye-openers that let you know that you really only have two options: reduce and compensate. My commitment is motivated by the idea of giving future generations a chance for healthy aging as well.”

That sounds great, reducing and offsetting CO2. What does that look like in reality?

“Since 2012, with no additional costs to the customer, we have been offsetting our emissions through projects, such as generating energy with wind turbines and converting biogas to electricity. And we capture CO2 by planting trees, lots of trees.”

“Reducing goes in different layers. First, optimising routes is the way to reduce emissions drastically. As Europe’s number one parcel service provider, we have an extensive network of depots in many countries. Altogether, 75% of CO2 emissions arise on those (inter)national routes. That has led to the costly decision to ensure that at least 35% of trucks run on biofuel from 2030. Otherwise, we will not meet our ambitious targets. From the same year, all delivery buses will run electrically.”

Sustainability is about more than CO2, what other topics do you have?

“To start with, there is the ISO14001 certificate. That is the basis. From suppliers, we expect an effective approach and end-of-life cycle solutions in terms of reuse and recycling. Our purchasing requirements are based on this. And the same applies to our buildings; in addition to the legal obligation, we invest in circularity and sustainability. A sustainable society is also about social themes. For instance, we invest in our closer communities pillar and contribute to European food banks, among others.”