Waste Reduction for Certified Sustainable Delivery

As part of the Sustainable Delivery Certification, a workshop dedicated to waste reduction was held last January. The aim of this meeting was to share ideas and set goals to encourage last-mile sustainable delivery companies to take concrete action to meet the environmental requirements of the certification.

The Weight of Waste : A major Volume Issue

In Canada, online sales have increased by nearly 75% since 2019, leading to a proportional rise in parcel-related waste. Moreover, plastic waste are poorly or barely recycled (<10%). (Recyc-Québec, 2020).

Pollution Associated with Logistics Waste

Single-use plastics: Shrink wrap, adhesive tape, and plastic air cushions commonly used to secure parcels.
Expanded polystyrene: Still widely used in packaging to protect fragile items.
Landfilling and incineration: Non-recycled waste ends up in landfills or is incinerated increasing greenhouse gas emissions.
Visual pollution: In large cities, abondoned or poorly managed packaging becomes a visible nuisance.
Impact on infrastructure: The accumulation of waste overwhelms municipal waste management systems, especially during peak periods like the holiday season.

Workshop overview

The workshop brought together pioneering compagnies involved in the Sustainable Delivery Certification in a collaborative and committed atmosphere.

Workshop steps:

Identify the types of waste generated in last-mile delivery operations, including parcel packaging.
List potential strategies to reduce this waste, operational challenges, and best practices.
Commit to reducing one specific source of waste identified as both relevant and realistic for the company.

Ideas and solutions discussed

During the workshop, several solutions were explored to help reduce delivery-related waste:

Reevaluation overpacking: Rethinking oversized boxes and encouraging incentives that reduce empty space in parcels, as well as promoting the use of reusable packaging.
Repair, recycling, or reuse partnerships: Collaborating with specialized companies to ensure the proper reuse, repair, or recycling of end-of-life materials such as scrap metal and tires.
Awareness campaigns: Educating customers about the importance of choosing appropriate and sustainable packaging. Promoting the use of reusable, compostable boxes, bags, and materials to reduce waste.
Encouraging reverse logistics: Implementing deposit-return systems and corresponding services to facilitate the return and reuse of packaging.
Prioritizing plastic-free or more durable items: Using tarps and blankets around pallets, reusable pallets, stackable storage boxes, plastic-free shipping labels, paper tape, and cardboard padding as sustainable alternatives.

Participant commitments

Participating companies proposed several actions to reduce waste generation in their operations. A shared objective emerged from these discussions:

To gather best practices from customers and partners. Coop Carbone will be responsible for creating a factsheet or brochure that can be shared with clients and the broader ecosystem.

A Collective Commitment to Certified Sustainable Delivery

The collaborative workshop on waste reduction sparked constructive discussions, broadened the reflection at the local level, and laid the groundwork for future concrete actions. Through optimization techniques, reverse logistics, resource sharing, eco-design, and the commitment of companies involved in the Sustainable Delivery Certification, the last-mile logistics sector is moving toward a more responsible and sustainable approach.

Thank you to Purolator, Nationex, Radish and La roue libre for your participation!

To learn more about the Sustainable Delivery Certification: Sustainable Delivery Certification