Itella will provide companies with carbon-neutral delivery services where the carbon dioxide emissions caused by the deliveries have been neutralized in full. By using Itella Green labeled services, companies can cut the carbon dioxide emissions caused by their delivery chains, and thus actively contribute to the climate effort.
Consumers will get the opportunity to make green selections for postal services next year. "Itella's carbon-neutral services are the first of their kind in Finland: as far as we know, there are no other delivery services or other services where the carbon dioxide emissions would have been neutralized in full on behalf of the client," says Hanna Kaustia, director at Itella.
For a small additional price, a company sending parcels, letters, publications or advertisements can purchase a service that neutralizes the carbon involved in the delivery and transport of their physical products. As of the beginning of September, the Itella Green additional service will be available for domestic parcels and transport items. For parcels, the additional service costs 5 cents, and the price for large transport items is 29 cents each. The green aspect of the transport will appear on the parcel card as an "Itella Green" marking. As of October, the additional service will be available for letters, publications and direct mail advertisements, the price of which is 0.1 cents each. The client may add the Itella Green marking to these shipments if the client so chooses.
Carbon-neutral services for consumers will be available next year. The range will include a stamp, for example. This means that as of next spring, consumers can also choose whether they send their letters or cards as a standard service or as a carbon-neutral service.
Itella Green products will enter Itella's usual mail processing, which means that the service will not introduce any new work phases. Initially, the Itella Green additional service will only be introduced in Finland, but in the future, the intention is also to implement it abroad. Itella expects the Green additional service to particularly attract major corporate customers with an environmental scheme, or who otherwise emphasize environmental matters in their business.
To compensate for the emissions caused by Itella Green deliveries, Itella supplies funding for climate projects that reduce emissions. "We have verified that the neutralization takes place in the best way possible, and that the emission reductions achieved through the projects correspond to the emissions by Itella Green services. Emissions being payable is a further incentive for us to reduce the level of emissions continuously caused by our own operations," says Kaustia. For example, at the moment, the delivery of a letter in Finland produces an average of 21 grams of carbon dioxide emissions, corresponding to driving a 140 meter stretch by car with a carbon dioxide emission level of 150 grams per kilometer.
The Mare wind power farm, located in the province of Izmir in Turkey, is the first climate project location of Itella Green. The wind farm project has been audited by an independent international auditor, and the project has been granted the Gold Standard certificate. If the wind farm were not constructed, the energy production in the area would be carried out using coal. In total, the Mare wind farm will reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by almost 100,000 metric tons.
Itella is committed to reducing its carbon-dioxide emissions by 10% by the year 2012 and by 30% by 2020 (per unit of net sales compared to 2007 levels). The reductions will be carried out through long-term projects as part of the Group's environment program; the projects are particularly related to vehicles and the energy used by properties.
Itella has decided to gradually adopt green electricity as of August 2009. From 2011, all electricity used by Itella in Finland will be green. The share of low-emission vehicles and alternative fuels will be increased: the objective is to increase the share of alternative vehicles to 40% by 2020.
Further information:
Hanna Kaustia, Director of Itella's Environment Program, tel. 020 452 1276, firstname.lastname@itella.com
Salla Lappalainen, Press Officer, contact person for Itella Communications, tel. 020 451 7339, firstname.lastname@itella.com
Itella's MediaDesk, tel. +358 20 452 3366 provides centralized services for journalists, regarding everything related to Itella, on working days from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
