Tradeteam delighted by Go Green success

March 16, 2010 - PRLog -- Tradeteam, the UK’s leading drinks logistics company, has reinforced its commitment to helping the environment by beating its annual target for cutting CO2 emissions.

Thanks to the success of its ‘Go Green’ programme, Tradeteam went beyond a 5% target and reached a 7% cut in carbon consumption – the equivalent of 3,000 tonnes.

Matt Crampton Tradeteam’s Finance Director, who has been responsible for implementing the company’s environmental strategy, said he was delighted that Tradeteam’s commitment to improving its green credentials had been so successful.

He said: “We set up the ‘Go Green’ programme in 2007 with the aim of minimising the impact of Tradeteam’s long term business objectives.

“We have backed our green words with green deeds and the company’s annual CO2 total is now down to approximately 35,000 tonnes in comparison to 45,000 tonnes when we first launched the initiative.

“I am thrilled that our dedicated green strategy has made such a difference to our carbon footprint. It’s really impressive how staff have embraced the challenge and how they have all made considerable effort to ensure that we are decreasing the amount of fuel and energy we use wherever possible.”

In 2008 Tradeteam introduced a two tiered approach to tackling its carbon footprint, focussing on direct contributory factors at site level such as transport and property and by helping its customers identify ways to reduce their own supply chain impact.

Tradeteam identified key areas for improvement using carbon footprint assessment data from each of its 30 UK operating sites.

Every site now has an environmental champion, supported by senior management, who is responsible for green campaigning and staff engagement. Employees are kept regularly up to date through green zone displays, online communications and dedicated staff newsletters.

Initiatives have focussed primarily on reducing the impact of Tradeteam’s fuel and utilities consumption.

Matt Crampton added: “Diesel is by far the biggest contributor – it makes up around 80% of our carbon footprint.

“By improving driver training and introducing more efficient driving strategies such as reducing top speeds and investing in new fleet with air spoilers and enhanced environmental engines we have been able to reduce our overall fuel consumption by 5% in the last 12 months.

“Technology has been key to this success, continual investment in our industry-leading Transport Management System has allowed us to accurately measure and manage the fleet’s performance.

“We have also been extremely proactive in employing property based initiatives across all of our sites following an in-depth audit of our utilities usage.

“The implementation of voltage trimming devices, light sensors, ‘switch off’ campaigns and real time monitoring systems and by switching to renewable energy where possible has made a massive difference.”

Tradeteam has been recognised by its parent company DHL and by the industry for its best practice. Last year the company was named Private Sector Fleet Operator of the year (less than 500 vehicles) at the GreenFleet Awards and Motor Transport’s Haulier of the Year and was recently shortlisted for the Drinks Business’ Logistics & Supply Chain Green Initiative award.

The drinks distributor is continuing to set meaningful targets and aims to further reduce CO2 emissions through new waste management and recycling initiatives in 2010. It is also currently trialling the industry’s first brewery specification tear drop trailer.

Matt Crampton added: “The logistics industry has a particular responsibility to address its environmental impact and Tradeteam is committed to improving its CO2 efficiency by 10% by 2012 and 30% by 2020.”

-ENDS-

Issued on behalf of Tradeteam by Adessi. For more information contact Beth Leonard on (0113) 256 9999 or beth.leonard@adessi.co.uk

Notes to editors:
Tradeteam is part of the world’s largest logistics company – DHL.  Employing over 2,200 people with 600 vehicles, the business is the number 1 drinks logistics supplier in the UK with a turnover in excess of £155m, delivering to more than 30,000 ‘on trade’ outlets each week and more than 7,000 primary (off-trade) trips each month.  Tradeteam picks 50 million items per year at 99.88% accuracy.  Customers include Molson Coors, Anheuser-Busch Inbev, Mitchells & Butlers and JD Wetherspoon.

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Tradeteam is part of the world’s largest logistics company, DHL, and is the UK’s number one drinks supplier with a turnover of £160m +. It was formed in 1995 with the sole aim of offering brewers, drinks’ brand owners & retailers tailored services.