DB Cargo in Germany has further strengthened its green credentials by becoming a partner of the international Lean and Green initiative, which is committed to reducing CO2 emissions in the logistics and storage sectors. 

All the participating companies of Lean and Green are targeting a 20 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in their logistics operations within five years. DB Cargo says it is committed to providing even more environmental protection by rail, adding that everyone who uses rail freight already saves around 80 per cent of CO2 emissions against road transport.

‘More sustainable world’

Established as a non-profit organisation, Lean & Green Europe is an international community of organisations who, says its website, are ‘seeking to build a better company and a more sustainable world’. Its members include more than 500 shippers, carriers, logistics service providers, ports, terminals and retailers.

The rail freight operator is already offering the likes of the BMW Group the opportunity to save around 20,000 tonnes of CO2 a year through its DB EcoPlus service, which offers customers CO2-free traction from renewable sources of energy in Germany and Austria.

Green credentials

DB Cargo, the BMW Group and container transporters TFG Transfract also recently agreed on a joint ‘Sustainability Roadmap’, in which around a dozen measures were agreed to extend the ‘green credentials’ of all three. These include the expansion of EcoPlus transports, the relocation of traffic, as well as joint pilot projects on environmental innovations.

Lean and Green participants will learn about these and similar opportunities for environmentally-friendly contributions through what’s been called the ‘GS1 Germany’ networks and platforms, a competence and service centre for the optimisation of cross-company business processes along the supply chain.

Renewable

DB Cargo Logistics’ EcoPlus concept has been a key part of the company’s environmental strategy for several years, having first been introduced in 2010. It is part of DB’s 2020 climate protection programme and offers the opportunity for CO2-free rail services by utilising renewable electricity. Around 10 per cent of the revenues from EcoPlus are invested in the construction of new renewable energy plants.

Raimund Stüer, Managing Director Sales at DB Cargo, pictured (left), with Oliver Püthe, Head of Initiative at Lean and Green, said: “We offer all DBeco plus customers the opportunity to drive CO2-free traction current from renewable sources of energy in Germany and Austria. In this way, more than 100,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions are avoided each year in comparison to transport by truck.”