2.3 Pollution
In this section, we provide disclosures on our material impacts and risks related to air pollution. Our efforts to minimise emissions reflect our commitment to sustainable practices. Addressing air pollution is a core element of our ESG strategy, and here we outline in greater detail how we aim to achieve our ambitions in reducing air pollution.
2.3.1 Our strategy
With the help of our Double materiality assessment, we assessed and identified the most material sustainability matters. For further information on how our material topics relate to our value chain, please see Our value chain and material topics section within the General disclosures. Identifying our most material impacts helps us to prioritise our actions to prevent and mitigate identified sustainability matters. For pollution, we identified (potential) material impacts, risks or opportunities on the following topics:
- Pollution of air.
More on how we address these material topics can be found in Our policies and Our performance later in this Pollution section.
Pollution impacts are addressed under the broader topic of liveability. We aim to reduce urban congestion and improve liveability as air and noise pollution rise, particularly in cities.
To mitigate this, we are transitioning to electric vehicles, which are quieter, cleaner, and free from combustion-related emissions. While we report on emissions from tyres and brakes, a reduction strategy is yet to be developed. Our systematic screening process at site and business activity levels helps identify pollution-related impacts, risks, and opportunities across our operations and upstream value chain.
2.3.2 Our policies
To address the impacts of air pollution we have a policy in place. The environmental policy, which is an integral policy to address multiple environmental topics, aims to reduce emissions from particulate matter and nitrogen from own operations.
Environmental policy
PostNL’s environmental policies prioritise reducing emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particulate matter (PM10 / PM 2.5), as these pollutants are closely linked to our core activities. They have been identified as critical through our impact assessments and are integral to addressing the risks and opportunities within our logistics and transportation operations. By targeting these emissions, we align with regulatory obligations and advance our broader sustainability ambitions. For more information on our Environmental policy, refer to Our Policies in the Climate Change section.
How the policy addresses the IRO
Emissions from vehicle traffic, particularly particulate matter (PM10 / PM 2.5) and nitrous oxides (NOx), are significant contributors to air quality degradation in inner cities, directly affecting residents' health. Transitioning to an electric fleet is central to our environmental policy, designed to address these impacts by minimising emissions from combustion engines. This proactive approach also mitigates potential financial risks associated with stricter upcoming air quality standards, such as substantial investment requirements and limited vehicle availability, while ensuring compliance with evolving regulations.
Our strategy takes a holistic approach to tackling air pollution and reducing particulate matter and nitrogen emissions across our operations. Electrifying our fleet is our primary decarbonisation lever, and we remain committed to following market developments to address other sources of emissions, such as braking and tire wear, in the coming years. More on the air pollution of our fleet can be found in the Performance section later in this chapter.
PostNL is certified under the ISO 14001 standard, signifying the implementation of a robust environmental management system. This framework enables us to systematically address and mitigate environmental risks while driving continuous improvement in our environmental performance. For the related IROs, see the Our strategy earlier.
2.3.3 Our performance
The reduction and prevention of air pollution forms a key element of our transition plan, aligned with our strategic objective to minimise environmental impact. We are achieving this through a shift towards emission-free logistics and by maximising the utilisation of renewable energy across our operations, as we progress towards our net-zero ambition for 2040.
Pollution of air
Actions
Electrification of our fleet
By adopting emission-free delivery from the final sorting centre to the consumer or an alternative pick-up location, starting with zero-emission zones in Dutch cities by 2025 and expanding to the Netherlands and Belgium by 2030, we directly address the negative impacts of GHG emissions and air pollutants. This strategic move not only mitigates current and future risks associated with climate change and air quality regulations but also helps the company achieve financial savings and develop a competitive advantage. This action applies to our own fleet as well as our delivery partners.
We employ the use of light electric freight vehicles (LEFV) for parcel delivery in inner cities, resulting in reduced congestion compared to traditional transport. As urban congestion increases, we prioritise not only delivering emission-free but also minimising disruption. The vehicles also use less electricity than electric vans and can carry up to three roll cages (two in the case of the LEF bicycle), which can be smart-packed at the sorting centre and loaded directly onto the vehicle at the city hub.
Our entire last-mile fleet for parcels and mail is transitioning to electric, enabling emission-free deliveries for customers and society. Since 2019, we have expanded to over 4,000 electric vehicles, adding more each year. Larger truck electrification remains a priority but faces challenges due to vehicle availability and charging infrastructure. Significant progress is expected post-2030 as technology advances. The effects of air pollution and climate change remain too indirect to be attributed to a single individual for remediation purposes. More information can be found in Our performance of the Climate change section.
Targets
Our goal is to achieve emission-free delivery from the final sorting centre to the consumer or an alternative pick-up location by 2030 from base year 2021. In the Netherlands and Belgium, this includes deliveries carried out by our delivery partners. This means eliminating emissions of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) from combustion engines, contributing to cleaner air and healthier cities. In 2021 these tailpipe emissions were 7.682 kilogrammes NOx, 277 kilogrammes PM10 and 263 kilogrammes PM2.5.
As an interim milestone, we already deliver with zero emissions in 27 city centres where zero-emission zones are in place and continue to expand our zero-emission network. To maximise our impact, we prioritise deploying electric vehicles in inner-city areas, where air quality improvements benefit the largest number of people. This target applies to both our own operations and outsourced logistics, ensuring a consistent approach across our network.
Alignment with the Green Deal for City Logistics and additional regulations
Our zero-emission target is closely aligned with the Green Deal for City Logistics in the Netherlands, which promotes sustainable urban logistics and the transition to clean transport solutions. Additionally, the regulatory landscape is evolving, with 30 to 40 Dutch municipalities already announcing zero-emission zones that will prohibit entry for polluting delivery vans. Given the likelihood of further tightening NOx and PM regulations, our approach ensures that we are well ahead of compliance requirements.
Rather than limiting our ambitions to regulated zones, we proactively extend our commitment to cover all last-mile deliveries in the Netherlands and Belgium, setting a higher standard for sustainable urban logistics.
PostNL has not identified material or present impacts related to soil pollution, water pollution, or hazardous substances. Consequently, we have not set targets for these areas.
More information can be found in Our performance of the Climate change section.
Metrics
Air pollution from own fleet
As a logistics service provider, we have no industrial production processes involving pollution of water and soil. Microplastics are not generated or used. We therefore focus on air pollution caused by transport vehicles.
Our reporting scope includes air pollution of our own fleet. In the upcoming years, we will monitor developments in the market and regulations to align our reporting with.
Currently, we report upon our key emissions nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5). While sulphur oxides (SOx) are also pollutants, we do not report on these emissions as the sulphur content in diesel within the European market is relatively low, and our estimated emissions fall well below the 150,000-kilogram threshold (see Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 166/2006).
The calculation method for NOx and PM10 emissions caused by combustion is based on the maximum permissible emission per Euro category in grammes per kilometre, multiplied by the kilometres driven by our small and large trucks. As such, the data represents estimates. In 2024, in addition to PM10 emissions, we also reported PM2.5 emissions which are very fine particles which cause more health issues.
Developments in air quality are closely linked to the types of vehicles in use. Accordingly, trends from the Air Pollution from Own Fleet table are explained alongside those from the Compliance with Euro Emission Norms table. Emission calculations are based on generalised maximum allowable emissions per Euro category conform the European emission standards and are not further disaggregated.
In 2024, in addition to particle matter caused by combustion, we also report on PM10 and PM2.5 caused by brake, tyre and road surface wear. This gives a more complete oversight of overall emissions. However it will be more difficult to reduce these types of emissions. Insights into reductions in NOx and PM10/PM2.5 emissions caused by combustion can be derived from the Euro classification table. A higher Euro-norm means a more stringent emission norm. Euro Z stands for zero tailpipe emissions which are for instance electric vehicles.
As we currently lack sufficient data to identify underlying drivers, we do not set specific targets for these metrics.
PostNL Air pollution from own fleet as indicated
2023 - 2024
| Year ended at 31 December | 2023 | 2024 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NOx | PM10 | PM2.5 | NOx | PM10 | PM2.5 | |
| Emissions from combustion (kg) | ||||||
| Large trucks | 25,757 | 526 | 500 | 17,344 | 418 | 397 |
| Small trucks, vans and motorcycles | 5,083 | 205 | 195 | 4,186 | 167 | 159 |
| Emission from brakes, tyres and road surface wear (kg) | ||||||
| Large trucks | 0 | 5,114 | 2,747 | 0 | 4,324 | 2,322 |
| Small trucks, vans and motorcycles | 0 | 1626 | 882 | 0 | 1,704 | 924 |
| Total emissions (kg) | 30,839 | 7,471 | 4,324 | 21,530 | 6,613 | 3,802 |
PostNL Compliance with Euro emission norms share per euro norm
2023 - 2024
| Year ended at 31 December | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Large trucks | ||
| Share of vehicles complying with Euro Z | 1% | 1% |
| Share of vehicles complying with Euro 6 | 98% | 98% |
| Share of vehicles complying with Euro 5 | 1% | 1% |
| Small trucks and vans | ||
| Share of vehicles complying with Euro Z | 37% | 43% |
| Share of vehicles complying with Euro 6 | 63% | 57% |
| Share of vehicles complying with Euro 5 | 0% | 0% |
| Total | ||
| Share of vehicles complying with Euro Z | 32% | 38% |
| Share of vehicles complying with Euro 6 | 68% | 62% |
| Share of vehicles complying with Euro 5 | 0% | 0% |
Starting in 2024, we report the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particle matter (PM10 / PM2.5) split in tailpipe emissions from combustion as well as pollution caused by brake, tyre and road-surface wear.
We managed to reduce the total tailpipe NOx emissions from our fleet by 30% compared to 2023. In addition, we achieved a reduction of 11% PM10 and 16% PM2.5 emissions. These reductions can be ascribed to replacing Euro 6 small trucks by electric (Euro Z) vehicles as well as fewer kilometres driven overall.
All of our trucks comply to at least the Euro 6 emission standard where an increasing number of our delivery vans are switched to an electric Euro Z model. This is especially important to improve air quality in inner cities.