Olly Craughan's Vision for Sustainable Transformation at DPD UK

DPD UK recently unveiled their ambitious net zero goals for 2030 and 2040 in an interview with Olly Craughan, the Head of Sustainability at DPD UK.

Craughan emphasised the company's commitment to sustainability, stating that they are actively pursuing every avenue to achieve this mission.

"Our aim is to achieve net zero emissions by 2040, with an interim goal of reducing emissions by 43% by 2030, based on our 2020 baseline," said Craughan, adding that the plan had been reviewed and validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

According to Craughan, the biggest change that he's overseen in relation to the net zero goal during his tenure has been the number of electric vehicles.

"We had just 139 EVs in 2020, but we closed 2023 with 3,600," Craughan said. "That's an incredible increase of over 2400%."

The number of parcels delivered by EVs last year was 64 million, up from just 30,000 six years ago. This year, the company is aiming for 100 million.

Craughan elaborated on the challenges facing their HGV fleet, citing the absence of suitable technologies for electrification. However, one promising solution has emerged in the form of Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (HVO), which boasts the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by an impressive 90% compared to diesel.

DPD has taken proactive steps, making substantial investments to suppress these hurdles. According to Craughan, "Last year, we increased our HGVs that employ HVOs from 10% to 95%. Moreover, we currently invest over £10 million annually towards HVOs."

Credit: DPD

Additionally, DPD has begun to integrate automated robot deliveries, beginning in 2022 with a robot named Evie, the first of its kind, in Milton Keynes. Since then, DPD have introduced the robot deliveries in 10 UK towns.

Craughan said: “Because [the robots are] electric, it means we're less reliant on diesel vans, which is always going to be a key priority for DPD moving into the future.”

Sustainable infrastructure stands as another one of the primary objectives DPD has pursued in the recent years. The unveiling of DPD's latest regional sortation hub in London Docklands is an example of the direction ahead, and a template for potential depots in the future, with its sustainable, eco-friendly features.

“The facility boasts solar panels generating 1.2 megawatts of energy, and all furniture is crafted from sustainable or repurposed materials,” Craughan said.

DPD has also set an ambitious target to have 4,000 electric vehicles by the end of this year, making 40% of its final mile fleet electric.

"By 2030 we want 100% of our final mile fleet to be EVs. We want 100% of our HGV fleet to be using HVOs, also," said Craughan. "I also mentioned that we want 100 million parcels delivered by an EV this year, and I'm excited to see that happen. DPD really believe we can be the leading sustainable parcel delivery firms across the UK."

Source: DPD