We exist to ensure that deliveries important to the sender and recipient go where they are supposed to, whether they are a postcard, a parcel from an online store, a truckload or internal material flow management of a plant. In Finland alone, Posti’s and its subcontractors’ cars covered a distance equaling 5,000 times around the world. Understandably, this causes emissions.
In total, our greenhouse gas emissions in 2021 were approximately 238,300 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). This figure includes the emissions from our business in Finland, Sweden, Norway, the Baltic countries, and Poland. In addition, the emissions of the Russian business before the sale of the business amounted to approximately 32,300 tonnes of CO2e for the period January-November 2021. Going forward, the emissions figures in this chapter are reported separately from Itella Russia.
Emissions are divided into emissions from our own operations (Scope 1 & 2) and emissions from the value chain (Scope 3). Scope 1 emissions are caused directly by our own operations – they are caused by the consumption of fuel by our own vehicles and properties. Scope 2 emissions are, in turn, caused by the production of electricity and district heat that we use. Scope 3
emissions are indirect, and in accordance with the calculation standard, they are divided into 15 different emission categories, of which we report the categories relevant to our operations.
Approximately four-fifths (80 percent) of our own emissions (Scope 1 & 2) are caused by transport and one-fifth (20 percent) by facilities. In all, our own emissions account for 20 percent of our total emissions.
In 2021, our own emissions from transport were 37,600 tonnes of CO2e, down approximately 10 percent year-on-year. For properties, the figure is 9,500 tonnes of CO2e, of which 26 percent was due to the consumption of properties’ fuels (heating fuels, reserve power and forklift fuels), 13 percent to electricity and 62 percent to district heating. Real estate emissions fell by slightly over 9 percent compared
to the previous year, despite the year 2021 being clearly colder than the previous year.
Emissions from the value chain (Scope 3) account for 80 percent of our total emissions. One-half of the emissions from the value chain (50 percent) were caused by the lifecycle emissions of fuels used by subcontractors. This figure includes emissions from driving as well as emissions from the production of spent fuel. Approximately one-third (35 percent) was due to the production of the products and other services we purchased and to our capital expenditure. Six percent was attributed to fuels
used in the production of the energy used by our own transport fleet and our properties in a phase other than their use – that is, in the pro-duction of fuels, for example. A total of around nine percent was generated from commuting and business travel.
The emission accounting, especially with regard to emissions in the value chain (Scope 3), is an estimate and we are working to refine the calculation year by year. Emissions from purchased goods and services as well as capital goods have been estimated on a cost basis, and commuting has been estimated on the basis of the number of employees and the average Finnish commuting distance. For other emission sources, more accurate input data is already available.
The emissions in Finland have been compensated by purchasing offset credits from certified climate projects. Our 2021 emissions will be compensated but Posti has decided not to continue compensation from 2022 onwards. The full focus will be on cutting Posti’s own and value chain emissions, and as we commit to the climate science, compensation cannot be used as a tool for reaching our goal – fossil-free transportation by 2030.
Because transports cause the majority of emissions and are a key part of our operations, it is natural that attention is mainly paid to them
in reducing emissions. During the year, Posti’s own fleet covered around 96 million kilometers, and the fleet of contract carriers approximately 130 million kilometers.
The two essential factors with impacts on emissions in transports are vehicles and their pro- pulsion technology. Significant investments were made regarding both during 2021. Con- tract carriers are influenced through cooperation. The procurement of vehicles suitable
for the intended use is limited by the general availability of vehicles, their price, and the inadequacy of the functional characteristics to per-form the required tasks.
Using renewable fuels instead of fossil fuels in vehicles in which it is possible can reduce emissions quickly. Renewable diesel or biogas reduces the lifecycle emissions of fuel consumption by up to 90 percent. In our in-house vans used for e-commerce deliveries, we use renewable diesel to the extent that the vehicles are not electrically powered. We also moved
to the use of renewable diesel in heavy-duty home deliveries in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area at the end of 2021. In total, renewable diesel is used in more than 300 of our vehicles. Our own fleet covers roughly 40 percent of parcel deliveries. A small share of our partners’ cars also use renewable diesel.
During 2021, we acquired five new gas-powered vehicles: three liquefied biogas (LBG) trucks and two compressed biogas (CBG) trucks. In addition, six LNG trucks gas switched to LBG at the beginning of 2022. Our fleet of LBG trucks is currently Finland’s largest – a total of 19 vehicles – and the aim is to continuously expand it. Even though the infrastructure is not yet complete, we are going in the right direction. More new gas filling stations will be opened in the vicinity of the main road network also this year. In general, an extensive station network contributes to an increase in gas-fueled lorries in heavy-duty traffic.
We have been using electricity extensively for a long time – in mail delivery, more than 40 percent of all customers use electricity: electric bicycles, electric scooters, electric delivery carts and, of course, electric cars. At the end of 2021, we had around one hundred electric vans in operation and our first electric truck was commissioned in the capital region in Novem- ber 2021. For the time being, however, the bottleneck has been availability and overall costs including charging infrastructure, for instance.
In all, the share of renewable fuels and electric vehicles in the total distance covered by our own transport fleet was around 13 percent.
However, a mile that is never driven produces the least emissions. Therefore, we continuously develop route optimization with target-oriented route planning, driving styles as well as filling rates and packaging – inefficiently packed vehicle and transporting air between parcels or inside packages causes unnecessary driving.
Our properties from warehouses to distribution-fulfillment centers and service points – more than 500 locations in all – consumed approximately 79 GWh of electricity and approximately 62 GWh of district heat in all of our countries of operation combined last year. We constantly monitor energy efficiency in the buildings covered by our own energy contracts. Many of our small operating locations are leased and energy is included in the lease agreement. For these, we estimate the consumption in our reporting.
All of the electricity we consume in Finland is renewable – we also buy guarantees of origin for the properties in which electricity is included in the rent. Aditro Logistics’ premises in Sweden and Norway also use renewable electricity, with the exception of offices where electricity is included in the rent. We also produce some electricity with solar power our- selves, and we are investigating the expansion of in-house production. We moved to green district heating in some of our properties in Finland during 2021 (a total of 14.4 GWh) and in Aditro Logistics’ Swedish warehouses we correspondingly moved to green district heating in April 2021 (a total of 1.6 GWh). We will continue to work to increase the share of renewable energy and increase our own fossil-free heat production.
How we proceed toward zero emissions
The goal of zero emissions from our own operations and outsourced road transport by 2030 is ambitious, but we believe that it is achievable. As described in the previous chapter, because the majority of these emissions are caused by transport, reducing these emissions also plays a major role in the available toolbox.
Changes in the fleet and source of propulsion provide the biggest leverage. If all trucks started using liquefied biogas (LBG) and all vans were changed into electric ones, this would reduce our own emissions by 80 percent. In practice, such a big change cannot be done quickly – due to the availability of vehicles and refueling network, among other factors. Subcontractors’ emissions are reduced through support and cooperation.
