Making the leap to greener deliveries | Royal Mail
Find out more on 0800 177 7824†
Our 81,000 posties walk, skip or dance up to a billion steps every day, because on foot is the lower emission way to deliver.
Sustainable choices are at the forefront of our business, which is why we’re the greenest delivery company for parcels and letters in the UK.1
1 Based on average gCO2e emissions per parcel delivered by UK parcel operators, as published by Citizens Advice 2023 Parcels League Table.
Find out more on 0800 177 7824†
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Make it easy for your customers to choose the lowest emission deliveries.
The last steps your product takes are ours. And they’re lighter than ever.
Our emissions per parcel are 200gCO2e, which is the lowest of any CO2 per parcel reported in our industry.1 Our posties are one of the reasons why emissions are so much lower. More than half of our delivery routes are made purely on foot (or through our ‘park and loop’ method which is also largely on foot).
By using Royal Mail, you’ll benefit from low emission returns too.
With Parcel Collect, our posties can pick up Royal Mail Tracked Returns® parcels at the same time as they deliver along their usual route.
This prevents additional journeys, meaning fewer emissions and less congestion! And to save on paper we can bring the returns label along, so you don’t have to send one out with every order.
Don’t offset your emissions, reduce them
69% of UK shoppers would choose an environmentally friendly delivery over a traditional one if given the choice.2
We’ll help you reduce your delivery footprint, making your online business more attractive to today’s eco-conscious shoppers.
You get familiar with your local postman or woman and having that same person deliver your chocolates beautifully packaged is added confidence.
Hotel Chocolat were selling chocolates online in 1993; opening their first store in Watford in 2004. The business now has over 140 shops and a hotel in a 275-year-old sustainable cacao farm in St Lucia.
Sustainability and ethics are integral to the brand. In Martin’s words, they “run right through our entire business,” and Royal Mail’s ‘feet on the street’ network is a key part. “We’ve got a great story of sustainability. From Saint Lucia, to our manufacturing in Huntingdon, right out to our customers - and Royal Mail fits into that.”
“Collaboration is key to Net-Zero carbon. There’s no other way we can do it,” says Sarah Leveridge, Hotel Chocolat’s Head of Packaging Innovation and Sustainability. “We’ll be collaborating with Royal Mail to achieve our goals.”
Extra feet on the streets and more environmentally friendly is one of our key messages to consumers.
Prestige Flowers is an online florist, sending 2 million bouquets a year across the UK. They partnered with Royal Mail back in 2014 – and are now going from strength to strength as an industry-leading brand.
Sustainability is at the heart of how Prestige Flowers operate and, alongside supporting British growers, planting wildflowers, removing all single use plastic and installing solar power in their despatch facilities, they partner with the UK’s greenest carrier: Royal Mail.*
"At Prestige flowers we are the UK’s most ethical and sustainable florist online so naturally it’s incredibly important to us that all our partners adhere to our philosophy. We have lots of environmentally conscious consumers: it matters now more than ever. If you claim to be sustainable, it’s not only about your product, it’s the delivery too. We know Royal Mail will be leading the way, and this is really important for the longevity of our partnership."
*Based on average gCO2e emissions per parcel delivered by UK parcel operators, as published by Citizens Advice 2023 Parcels League Table.
We’re committed to Net-Zero by 2040. On foot deliveries play a big part; here’s what else we’re doing:
Reducing the use of domestic air freight and increasing our use of road.
We purchase or generate 100% renewable electricity across our entire estate.
We have the largest electric van fleet in the UK with over 5,000 vehicles (making up more than 10% of our total fleet)
Trialling new low and zero-emission technologies for heavier vehicles, and getting ready to embrace them when they are available to deploy at scale.
We’ve begun our transition to renewable diesel alternatives, using Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) for our HGVs which reduced our diesel consumption by 10 million litres over the last year.
Trialling fully electric micro vehicles (the size of a golf buggy and charged by three-pin plug) as a low-carbon alternative to vans in residential areas.
Embracing circularity through enabling re-use models and reducing single use items.
Undertaking a complete review of our packaging and developing a plan to increase our use of recycled content and sustainably designed products.
We've reduced our waste by 27% and are recycling, reusing or diverting 98% of the remaining waste.3
Championing sustainability and driving industry change, including lobbying policymakers about the urgent need for more electric vehicle adoption and charging infrastructure.
Calling for industry-wide, standardised reporting on gCO2e so customers can make informed decisions about their carbon footprints.
Extra feet on the streets and more environmentally friendly is one of our key messages to consumers.
