Aware of its capillary presence within the country and the potential contribution it can make in reducing environmental impacts, Poste Italiane Group considers these issues a priority in carrying out its activities, as well as in the process of defining its Sustainability Strategy. Like in previous years, in 2022 Poste Italiane continued to implement sustainability initiatives, with particular reference to reducing the environmental impact of the corporate fleet. In this regard, 11,409 alternatively fuelled vehicles (electric, natural gas and LPG) are already deployed in the fleet.
The Fleet Renewal Plan, which had already been activated in 2019 with the aim of replacing the entire fleet of vehicles used for the delivery of postal products with green vehicles, continued in 2022 through measures to reduce energy consumption, lower atmospheric emissions, increase safety and increase load capacity for delivery. In fact, in addition to increasing safety parameters by replacing two-wheelers with three- and four-wheelers, electrically powered vehicles have been increased in order to promote 'green mobility'. With regard to improving the organisation of the delivery load, Poste Italiane also introduced larger and more functional vehicles for the transport and delivery of parcels, and set up new fittings.
Improving the environmental performance of the Group's fleet generates significant impacts on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. For this reason, Poste Italiane demonstrated its commitment to pursuing the plan for the complete renewal of its vehicle fleet, increasing the green component of the fleet itself, through the introduction of electric and hybrid cars and motorbikes in line with ESG targets of a 40% reduction in emissions. The results of this policy are evident, as the Company has gone from 11% green vehicles in 2016 to 37% in 2022, more than doubling this percentage by 2021, with the aim of replacing the entire company fleet with low-emission vehicles by 2024, resulting in a CO2 reduction equal to that of around 80,000 trees.
In line with the Group's objectives aimed at the efficient use of renewable sources and the rationalisation of energy consumption from fossil fuels, since 2018, the company has been promoting and supporting the new plan for the green evolution of the corporate fleet and the Joint Delivery plan, two key corporate strategies for achieving the objectives set in terms of environmental sustainability. Through the "Joint Delivery" plan, Poste Italiane adopts a model that allows the Group to radically reorganise the delivery network and its operating model, implementing a delivery style that provides for the transition from a single network structure to a structure with two networks, which differ in terms of delivery methods, frequency and type of product managed. The Fleet Evolution Plan and the Joint Delivery Plan reduce both the number of kilometres travelled for delivery activities and the need for a marshalling fleet itself.
Regarding the details of the green fleet transformation project, in 2022, Poste Italiane completed the fleeting of 1,956 electric vehicles, of which 1,170 cars, 264 vans, and 511 tricycles and quadricycles, 7,003 hybrid electric or methane vehicles, and 6,154 low-emission vehicles.
The green fleet reached 37% of the total Poste Italiane fleet in 2022: there are about 7,500 bifuel vehicles between cars and vans - well above the approximately 2,800 in 2021 - and over 3,600 low-emission motorbikes. Specifically, 15,113 low- emission vehicles were fleeted in 2022: 1,956 electric vehicles including 1,170 cars, 264 vans and 511 tricycles/quadricycles; 7,003 hybrid electric or natural gas vehicles; 6,154 low-emission vehicles. The total number of environmentally- friendly vehicles introduced as of 2019 is 22,610, and by 2023, a further 3,710 environmentally-friendly vehicles are expected to be introduced in the fleet, including: 2,250 electric vehicles; 684 hybrid electric or natural gas vehicles; 776 low-emission vehicles, a total of 26,320 environmentally-friendly vehicles by the end of 2023. The interventions are in line with the goal of reaching 27,800 vehicles by 2024.
As of January 2019, the Group used the 'Fleet Management' function, set up for the purpose of indicating, managing and organising corporate strategies in the vehicle sector. This function has the task of defining and ensuring the governance, guidelines and appropriate tools to obtain the best services for the entire vehicle fleet of Poste Italiane and Group Companies. In addition to all the stable sustainable mobility initiatives, Poste Italiane is taking steps to influence people's current and future behaviour, so that it becomes part of a new normality for the benefit of environmental protection.
Objectives related to the reduction of CO2 emissions are the focus of the joint venture agreement between Poste Italiane and sennder, a European leader in the digitalisation of freight transport. Through the partnership with sennder, the Group wants to improve the efficiency of long-distance road transport, covering the entire full-load transport sector and the handling of parcels and letters between all the Group's sorting and distribution hubs.
With particular reference to the supplier selection process, Poste Italiane also includes the use of specific criteria to monitor the indirect environmental impact. Specifically, the Company verifies the technical and professional suitability of its suppliers by requesting, for qualification purposes, the possession of specific requirements, including composition and type of vehicles in the fleet. In particular, in relation to the vehicles used to perform the services, the Group requires their consistency with the European standards on polluting emissions with a class no lower than EURO6 and that the XL boxed or tarpaulin semi-trailers equipped with TIR cable are equipped with GPS detection capable of transmitting all the detections on the position of the vehicles.
As regards the purchase of logistics services, Poste Italiane maintains conduct consistent with sustainability issues, selecting and rewarding suppliers in line with the environmental, social and governance issues that the Group promotes. In particular, for transport services there is a score that rewards eco-sustainability for suppliers who adopt vehicles with lower CO2 emission classes.
Compliance with the reference MEC is also required for footwear and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). In addition, bids aiming at the recyclability of packaging are emphasised in terms of the technical score awarded. In line with the services mentioned above, in the procurement of technological systems for parcels and letters, offers with low energy consumption in use are valued.
