Irish pharma firm in deal to drive down delivery emissions to 10 countries
A major pharmaceutical company has announced a deal designed to drive down its delivery emissions from Ireland to 10 countries. AstraZeneca’s Rare Disease group, Alexion, makes drugs[1] for life-threatening rare diseases in Ireland. They say a new partnership with DHL Global Forwarding Freight to use Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil in their trucks could reduce the road freight emissions of 500 annual deliveries by up to 90 per cent
The partners have identified multiple transport routes within Ireland, Northern Ireland and Europe, which will all convert from diesel to HVO to deliver medicines manufactured in Alexion’s sites in Athlone and Blanchardstown, Dublin[2]. READ MORE: Irish meat and dairy lobby’s far-reaching influence mapped out for first time[3] READ MORE: Hundreds march through Dublin urging government to phase out all fossil fuels[4]
HVO is produced from biomass like used cooking oils and waste from food manufacture and can be used within existing vehicles without compromising operational performance, removing the need for new infrastructure or fleet. Alexion AstraZeneca Rare Diseases say reducing greenhouse gas emissions in transport is part of the company’s wider sustainability strategy to accelerate the delivery of net-zero health systems, including supply chain decarbonisation. Its vice president for Global Supply Chain and Product Strategy Lead, Sylvia Kiely, said: “Today’s announcement with DHL to move from Diesel to HVO fuel is another milestone in our commitment to reducing our environmental impact, and dependency on fossil fuels within our global supply chain in relation to Scope 3.
“By working with our partners to extend eco-conscious practices to our full freight network, we can further minimise our environmental impact and dependency on fossil fuels within our global supply chain.”
By converting to HVO fuel, the two companies are aiming to reduce annual Greenhouse Gas from road freight by up to 90% compared to GHG emissions associated with deliveries using diesel (Image: Jason Clarke)
Maurice Meade, Managing Director of DHL Global Forwarding Freight, Ireland, said: “This is another step in the right direction as we strive to run more sustainable operations for our customers that reduce the inherent Greenhouse emissions in transporting goods. We are delighted to see Alexion be one of the trailblazers to make this significant switch in approach and thereby follow-up on their sustainability goals with clear actions. “This initiative perfectly aligns with our sustainability strategy at DHL Group, whereby our aim is to reduce all logistics-related emissions to net-zero by 2050.”
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References
- ^ drugs (www.irishmirror.ie)
- ^ Dublin (www.irishmirror.ie)
- ^ Irish meat and dairy lobby’s far-reaching influence mapped out for first time (www.irishmirror.ie)
- ^ Hundreds march through Dublin urging government to phase out all fossil fuels (www.irishmirror.ie)
- ^ this link (chat.whatsapp.com)
- ^ Privacy Notice (www.reachplc.com)