In order to further reduce its climate impact, Colruyt Group aims to make all its freight transport emissions-free by 2035. Both for its own transports to and from the stores and to the distribution centers via suppliers, the Belgian retailer wants to fully rely on zero emission vehicles. The company will achieve this through the use of complementary technologies: both battery-electric vehicles and hydrogen-electric vehicles will be needed to realize this transition. Thanks to the internal expertise of Virya Energy and DATS 24, and the many years of experience in transport, Colruyt Group is confident that this ambition will be fulfilled. In addition, the retail group actively discusses this with the ecosystem of (transport)partners and suppliers with whom it works closely.
The ambition to go for zero emission transport by 2035 will have an important impact on the direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions of Colruyt Group. The Retail Group currently emits 87,547 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year. In 2008, the group drew up a CO2 balance sheet for the first time, which resulted in a reduction plan focused on four hotspots: Cooling, Heating, Energy and mobility. This reduction plan takes into account life cycle analyses to arrive at the most environmentally friendly solution for each specific application. Since then, emissions have decreased both in absolute values and relative to sales for scope 1 and 2 (according to The Greenhouse Gas Protocol). In fact, over the past five years (2017-2021), it has decreased by more than 25% in absolute terms. A trend that the company is eager to continue.
