This marks a major milestone in our long-standing commitment to hard-wire sustainable practices into every aspect of our business.
A force for good – every day of the week.
Sustainability is a core pillar of our business because we believe circular processes are the only ones that will stand the test of time.
Read MoreMenzies Distribution is one of the most well-established businesses in the UK. We were founded over 187 years ago when a Victorian entrepreneur built up a small newsagent business into a national chain.
Sustainability wasn’t a recognised imperative when we started out in 1833, but we’ve been designing sustainable routes to market since the outset. As such, we are somewhat pioneering in the field and take our responsibilities to climate change seriously, specifically in relation to clean air, a clean network and transition to zero emission vehicles. Our mantra is ‘tomorrow delivered today’ with our sustainable business model shaping the logistics supply chain, now and for generations to come.
Sustainability is a core pillar of our business because we believe circular processes are the only ones that will stand the test of time.
The future depends on both conscious business models and the small changes we make today. We focus on three key areas to make our business more sustainable and our network and transport cleaner:
1. Fleet
2. Energy consumption
3. Recycling & reuse – for ourselves and our partners
These areas encompass emission elimination, decarbonisation and offsetting.
We introduced our dedicated electric fleet across our operations because we know fossil fuels aren’t sustainable. Our priority is to expand it at pace – far ahead of regulatory deadlines. We were the pioneers in electric vehicle (EV) technology and the first organisation to introduce an electric fleet to the Scottish Highlands & Islands. For every EV we introduce, we’re improving air quality, cutting particulates and reducing harmful nitric oxide emissions.
Charging infrastructure is critical to the transition to EVs and Menzies is quite literally leading the charge! To enable our fleet to make as many carbon neutral deliveries as possible, we’ve established a large commercial charging infrastructure in the UK and we’re working to broaden the wider charging ecosystem. Through extensive trials, we have developed an energy efficient vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging process – meaning we charge at off-peak times and return spare charge to the grid at peak times when demand for energy is high.
As for the rest of our fleet, we’re ensuring every aspect is as sustainable as possible. Improvements in vehicle design have made bodywork more aerodynamic. The introduction of air deflectors has reduced vehicle drag by 30% and increased fuel efficiency by 10-15%. Our fuel partner offers carbon offsetting with initiatives including; tree plantation schemes, avoided deforestation programme, solar and wind power. The fuel itself has special additives to reduce harmful engine deposits that impact on air quality. Our entire diesel fleet is Euro 6 compliant, meeting the toughest and lowest emissions limits in history, along with the criteria for Low and Ultra-Low Emissions Zones and the UK’s Clean Air Zones. We optimise routes to minimise miles driven and have a robust driver monitoring and training programme to not only reduce emissions and increase efficiency, but improve safety. We are proud to include dual-fuel LNG and CNG vehicles within our fleet. Across all our operation we actively measure total CO2 per kilometre, demonstrating a 5.8% reduction over the past 12 months.
Power used across our network is from clean, renewables, namely wind and hydro, along with other sustainable sources. Our sites are internally lit with LED lighting, and externally with Passive Infrared that detects motion to further reduce the amount of energy used by each bulb. In select depots, this switch is saving over 90,000 kg of CO2 per year. Continued investment and our energy efficiency measures have reduced CO2 per square foot of warehouse space by 61% over the past four years.
Today we have a clear focus for the future. We aim to reduce our total energy consumption by
around 20% through the following action points:
1. Automatic temperature control
2. Automated power down of all electrical items
3. Efficient lighting – LED motion sensors
4. Economical roof insulation and suspended ceilings
5. Boilers that save power on hot water and heating
6. Installation of roof top solar panels – generating around 200,000 kwh of renewable energy per year, powering the site during the day and returning surplus to the grid. We have plans to extend this to further sites.
Vertical Materials
In a sector with much recyclable material, we have implemented a waste management strategy that allows us to recover, bale and recycle 26,331 tonnes of material each year.
Materials Reuse
Our dedicated returns sortation centre has recently passed the 14 million items mark, adding
value for our customers by providing a cost-effective rapid route to market for reuse and resale
and reducing potential landfill waste.
At Menzies, sustainability is also about playing a role in the communities where we live and work. We are committed to delivering support and driving change for our employees, workplace and wider community.