Environmental Milestones

1971

• Swedish Posten produces and tests electric cars, mopeds and forklift trucks.

1974

• Conversion to electric powered Ford Escort used in Swedish mail delivery. Several vehicles are also sold to energy companies. During the years that follow, an increasing number of electric vehicles are put into operation.

1992

• Swedish Posten conducts an environmental inventory in collaboration with Lund University and identifies focal areas for environmental work.

1993

• An environmental manager is appointed in Sweden who is responsible for improving and following up environmental work. An environmental policy is adopted and Swedish Posten joins the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC); a business community programme for lasting sustainable development.

1996

• Post Danmark adopts an environmental policy and publishes ‘green accounts’ that details the operation’s environmental challenges in figures.

1997

• Within the scope of the EU project Jupiter, Post Danmark tests electric cars in its distribution operation in collaboration with Aalborg Municipality.

1998

• Driver training in efficient driving techniques starts for Swedish mail delivery workers.
• Swedish Posten’s logistics operation is environmentally certified to ISO 14001.

1999

• Swedish Posten’s mail operation is environmentally certified to ISO 14001.
• Swedish Posten’s logistics operation publishes its first environmental report on the Internet and offers customer-specific environmental reports.
• Falcon Air, Swedish Posten’s wholly owned subsidiary, is the first airline in the world to be environmentally certified to ISO 14001.

2000

• Post Danmark introduces a gradual development model for environmental work that is integrated with the control systems of the operation.

2001

• The main part of economy mail and ADM (addressed direct mail) in Sweden is transported using trains that meet the requirements for Bra Miljöval (Good Environmental Choice) certification. In total, more that half of the mail volume in Sweden is transported by rail.

2002

• Energy efficiency programme starts in Swedish mail terminals.
• Life cycle analysis initiated to survey the environmental impact of the Swedish mail services.

2003

• Post Danmark introduces a tool on its website allowing customers to calculate their environmental footprint and receive environmental declarations for the products.
• Compulsory environmental training initiated in Sweden for all managers and heads of operations.

2005

• Swedish Posten compiles its first sustainability report.
• The Swedish magazine delivery service Posttidningar undergoes the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) process.
• Certified EPDs are published in Sweden for Posttidningar A and B.

2006

• Strålfors (now the Information Logistics business area) is acquired by Swedish Posten. As early as 1988 Strålfors launched the chlorine-free computer paper ‘Strålfors noll’. In both 1995 and 1996 the company was named one of Sweden’s most environmentally aware listed companies by The Natural Step, which works to promote commitment to, and competence in, sustainable development. In 1996 Strålfors became approved as a producer of printed materials bearing the Nordic Ecolabel. In the same year, Strålfors became environmentally certified to ISO 14001, the first company in the industry to do so and one of the first in the world. In 2001 Strålfors set up an internal environmental network for skills transfer in the fields of environment, quality and safety.
• Post Danmark helps start the Danish Council for Sustainable Business Development, which is to inspire the Danish business community to work sustainably.
• Swedish Posten sets the overall environmental goal for 2006–2010 of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 15% in relation to net sales.

2007

• Post Danmark sets the overall environmental goal for 2007–2012 of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 8% in absolute figures.
• Swedish Posten develops its first environmental service – direct mail including compensation for the distribution operation’s climate footprint.
• Post Danmark introduces speed limits of 85 km/h, compared with 90 km/h previously, for its vehicles of over 3.5 tonnes to reduce the temptation of overtaking, which increases fuel consumption.
• Post Danmark cooperates with the Danish Energy Agency on the One Tonne Less climate campaign, in which employees commit to reducing their carbon dioxide emissions. Post Danmark quickly seized pole position as the company in which most employees had signed up for the initiative.

2008

• Tollpost Globe (now part of the Logistik (Logistics) business area’s Norwegian operations) becomes a wholly owned subsidiary. As early as 1999 Tollpost became certified to ISO 14001 and started publishing an annual environmental report. In 2007 Tollpost started to offer its customers environmental impact assessments for their transport services.
• Fifteeen biogas trucks are taken into operation by Swedish Posten so that they can be evaluated for future purposes.
• Swedish Posten starts using trains to transport parcels and pallets.
• Swedish Posten joins a project run by the Swedish Road Administration entitled ‘Climate-neutral road haulage’, a collaborative project run by the Swedish Transport Administration for climate-neutral goods transport on Swedish roads.
• Strålfors’ operations in the UK win the Environmental Award presented by the British Printing Industries Federation.
• PostNord is part of PostEurop’s 2008–2012 climate initiative, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Programme, aiming to reduce participants’ total emissions of greenhouse gases by 10% during the period.
• Post Danmark launches a cooperation with Aalborg Municipality within the EU’s Archimedes project. The aim is to make transport through the villages more environmentally friendly, including an initiative to run 50 mail vans and 50 buses on a biodiesel mixture during 2010.
• Swedish Posten starts to buy fossil-free Bra Miljöval electricity for mail terminals and offices for mail delivery workers.

2009

• PostNord is formed through the merger of Post Danmark and Swedish Posten. Erica Kronhöffer is appointed as the group’s first Director for TQM and Environment.
• Sixty million Swedish kronor are earmarked via the climate fund Klimatfonden 2009 for initiatives in the Swedish operation that mitigate climate and environmental impact.
• New delivery van for letters is put into operation in Sweden, with a considerably lower environmental impact than previously: 116 g CO2/km (lower than the level for green car rating).
• PostNord joins the UN Global Compact initiative and its ten principles for human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.
• Environmental services for letters, parcels and direct mail, ‘Post med omtanke’ (‘Mail with Care’), are launched in Denmark. For between DKK 0.01 and 0.25 the double amount of carbon dioxide emissions that the mailed items give rise to is climate compensated.
• Environmental services for direct mail, ‘Klimatekonomisk DR’, are launched in Sweden. These entail demands for environmentally adapting the manufacture of the mailed item and climate-compensating carbon dioxide emissions from the distribution operation.
• PostNord takes part in the International Postal Corporation’s first joint sustainability report and supports the goal that the sector will jointly reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 20% by 2020.
• The first group-wide sustainability report is published.
• The pilot ‘Grön rutt’ (‘Green route’) is initiated by Swedish Posten along with Östersund Municipality to evaluate more efficient routes for mail delivery. The pilot identifies a possibility of reducing the environmental impact by 30%.
• Tidningstjänst AB, a wholly owned subsidiary that distributes morning newspapers, is environmentally certified to ISO 14001.
• ‘Miljöspindeln’, a follow-up model for the environmental strategy, is introduced in the logistics operation.

2010

• During 2010 the Group established new long-term environmental ambitions. Carbon dioxide emissions will be reduced 40% by 2020 over base year 2009. This is a challenging goal and will require considerable adjustments and investments in terms of transports and energy consumption on our premises.
  
• EUR 10 million are earmarked through Klimatfonden 2010 for initiatives in all PostNord operations that mitigate climate or environmental impact.
• Tollpost creates a web-based environmental portal presenting the operation’s results in relation to environmental goals, both for interested customers and for internal use.
• Posten AB launches further environmental services: Klimatekonomiskt varubrev (for light items packaged in environmentally friendly materials) and Posttidning.
• Posten AB now has over 2,800 electric vehicles in its mail delivery operation that are charged overnight with fossil-free green electricity.
• Posten AB tests the alternative fuel BioDME for trucks. The project is managed by Volvo Lastvagnar, with funding from the European Union and the Swedish Energy Agency.