Today, on World Environment Day, Australia Post has launched their very first Environmental Action Plan as part a commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 25 per cent by 2020, and save $10 million every year through environmentally sustainable programs.
Running the country's largest delivery network that spans 11.7 million addresses and more than 16,000 vehicles, Australia Post created the Environmental Action Plan to shape ongoing reporting and future activities that will lead to long-term sustainability.
Chief Financial Officer Janelle Hopkins said that by driving sustainability, they can release resources to better explore new areas and improve customer experiences.
"That saving of $10 million every year enables Australia Post to invest more in improving and creating services our customers want to use," said Ms Hopkins.
"Since 2000 we have reduced our carbon emissions by 20 per cent, which is significant given domestic parcel volumes are continuing to grow, and more than two million parcels were delivered in a single day during Christmas last year.
"In the last eight years we have been working to aggressively reduce our carbon footprint, even going beyond our own sites to account for our third-party supply chain.
"Our first ever Environmental Action Plan is a step towards continuing to reduce carbon emissions and achieve our target of a 25 per cent reduction by 2020."
Australia Post installed the country's largest single-roof solar panel system late last year at the Sydney Parcels Facility, which Ms Hopkins said alone saves $800,000 every year within their extensive 48-site solar energy program.
"We are seeing immediate returns as we unlock renewable energy at some of our busiest sites, which helps to insulate the business against rising energy prices," Ms Hopkins said.
"But we're also looking at how we can leverage our existing network to support communities. Our partnerships with groups like TerraCycle, Planet Ark and Mobile Muster has seen us remove 26,000 tonnes of material from landfill. We also helped develop the world-first Nespresso recycling satchel to send used coffee pods to a purpose-built recycling centre, and our own satchel packaging is now completely recyclable.
"We're excited to see Australia Post make an even greater commitment towards delivering better commercial and environmental outcomes for the Australian community," said Ms Hopkins.
To read the Environmental Action Plan, please visit https://auspost.com.au/content/dam/auspost_corp/media/documents/environmental-action-plan.pdfSource: Australia Post