Skip to main content

Excessive packaging causes unnecessary road traffic

Bernhard Simon, chief executive of Dachser, a Germany-headquartered European logistic provider, says he believes that one in five truck journeys would not be necessary if superfluous packaging was avoided. This could reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by up to eight million tons he believes. In 2005 CO2 emissions from road cargo transport in Germany amounted to 36.7 million tons and the Federal Environment Agency has forecast emissions to rise to 44.4 million tons by 2020.
May 17, 2012 Read time: 1 min
Bernhard Simon, chief executive of 5597 Dachser, a Germany-headquartered European logistic provider, says he believes that one in five truck journeys would not be necessary if superfluous packaging was avoided. This could reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by up to eight million tons he believes. In 2005 CO2 emissions from road cargo transport in Germany amounted to 36.7 million tons and the 5598 Federal Environment Agency has forecast emissions to rise to 44.4 million tons by 2020.

Julia Wolf, logistics professor at the European Business School in Wiesbaden, argues that transport costs are too low. She says that transport costs account for 15 per cent of the price of a product on average, and 20 per cent of the transport costs depends on the road carrier's utilisation rate. The more links a distribution chain consist of, the greater is the likelihood of excessive packaging.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Future EV owners can make money from the power grid
    May 17, 2012
    In what is being claimed as a landmark research report published by Ricardo and National Grid in the UK, the market potential is demonstrated for an electric plug-in vehicle fleet of the future to provide balancing services to the power grid on a commercial basis, returning value to vehicle owners while improving the carbon efficiency of grid operation.
  • Preparations building for French national truck toll
    September 12, 2012
    The Autostrade led Ecomouv consortium is developing the next big system of truck tolling likely to be introduced in Europe – France’s ‘Eco-tax’. Jon Masters reports. Since October last year, a consortium of companies has been working on developing the technological and administrative systems necessary for a national system of truck tolling in France. Eco-tax, France’s truck toll, is not necessarily going to be implemented. The Ecomouv consortium has been set up as a long term concessionaire, but so far only
  • California e-dreaming with ABB
    March 27, 2020
    Data can unlock the costs and benefits of converting commercial fleets to electric vehicles.
  • Lime and Pedal Me to combat congestion
    February 10, 2021
    Firms want to replace around 15,000 vehicle miles in London over the next few months