Leading Supermarket takes to the road to drive carbon reductions

Sainsbury’s has extended its Dual-Fuel fleet to 51 vehicles saving up to 25 per cent in carbon emissions. The environmentally friendly fleet, now one of the largest in the UK, operates on a combination of diesel and bio-methane, produced from rotting organic material in landfill.

This latest Dual-Fuel technology dramatically reduces the consumption of diesel and carbon emissions, as well as delivering long-term cost efficiencies.  Each Dual-Fuel vehicle will save around 41 tonnes of CO2from being dispersed into the atmosphere each year. Its Dual-Fuel fleet will deliver carbon reductions equivalent to taking over 900 cars off the road each year (over 2,090 tonnes of CO2).

The fleet, based at the retailer’s Emerald Park Distribution Centre in Bristol, is serving stores and depots in Wales and the South West.  A dedicated on site refuelling station has also been put in place to enhance fuelling efficiency and allow a larger number of Dual-Fuel vehicles to enter Sainsbury’s fleet over time.

Nick Davies, Sainsbury’s Head of Transport Operations, said: “We set ourselves a very stretching target for carbon reduction in our transport fleet so we are always looking for ways to reduce our impact on the environment while improving efficiencies.  Our trial of Dual-Fuel was very successful and gave us the confidence to extend the fleet to become one of the largest in the country.  Our early adoption of this technology is helping to significantly reduce CO2 emissions and future proof our fuel supply, which are both fundamental to the long-term sustainability of our business.

“We have already achieved a number of efficiencies across our transport operations, including cutting almost 8 million kilometres in three years, and our Dual-Fuel fleet will also play a key role in delivering our no waste to landfill policy.  As well as delivering to our stores the fleet also back hauls any food waste and recyclable materials to facilities to be sorted and put to positive use.”

In 2008 Sainsbury’s was the first supermarket to make daily food deliveries using a lorry powered by bio-methane.  One year later it ran a successful trial of five Dual-Fuel vehicles to support its environmental targets.  Underpinned by its 20x20 Sustainability Plan, Sainsbury’s aims to reduce its depot to store transport CO2 emissions by 35 per cent by 2020 and achieve an absolute reduction of 50 per cent by 2030, against a 2005 baseline, despite the growth of its business. 

Article from Sainsbury’s press release