Green logistics – or pro-environmental and CO2-reducing solutions in the operation of the ILS European Logistics and Development Centre

Green logistics is a term that has gained momentum over the past few years. It refers to all efforts to minimise the environmental impact of negative logistics activities, e.g. implementing more sustainable operational processes in companies and reducing polluting emissions. The main objective of green logistics is to coordinate logistics activities and implement them in a way that benefits the economy, the environment and the society.

It is a business philosophy that aims to have as little impact as possible on the environment.

Currently the logistics sector contributes to as much as 8% of global CO₂ emissions. In contrast to many other sectors, emissions from freight transport continue to rise.

ILS is a company that is consciously managed and strives to significantly reduce the negative impact of logistics activities on the surrounding environment. This manifests itself in numerous measures introduced by the company’s management on a regular basis. 

Reduction in the use of cardboard shipping boxes 

The logistics centres managed by ILS made a total of more than 12,600,000 shipments in 2020. 41% of the shipping units are reusable packaging (so-called board containers), 13% are cardboard units and the remaining ones are shipments of goods in bulk. By investing in reusable containers, ILS significantly reduces the consumption and at the same time the costs of cardboard packaging.

– In order to reduce costs and with a view to environmental sustainability, the ILS European Development and Logistic Centre and other logistics centres have focused on reducing the amount of cardboard packaging used. To make this possible, we have decided to purchase and put into permanent use reusable transporting metal baskets, both high and low, into which we can collect and dispatch goods. Thanks to this, we have managed to reduce the use of cardboard packaging by around 30% in relation to the amount of packaging shipped in previous years. What are our plans for the future? Purchasing more reusable packaging and a stricter control process is one of our main goals in this regard – explains Wojciech Aleksandrowicz, President and Managing Director at ILS. 

Optimising transport operations

ILS does not have its own fleet and does not employ drivers, but instead relies on regular subcontractors to organise its transport operations. If necessary, additional transports are ordered via freight exchanges. ILS uses more than a dozen different hauliers. This allows for price negotiations and at the same time certainty in maintaining quality and timeliness of transports.

In 2020, ILS significantly reduced the number of vehicles dispatched by increasing the use of loading space. To make this possible, the decision was made to use specialised dopplestock (a semi-trailer with a folding floor, allowing an increase in load space utilisation) and doubledeck (a semi-trailer with a rigid double floor, allowing an increase in load space utilisation) for transport and the number of vehicles used one-way was increased. The loading and unloading tests of the specialised trailers clearly showed that they perform best on the routes between the regional warehouses.

Green buildings 

In 2020  our ILS European Development and Logistics Centre in Zakroczym also focused on optimising the costs of property maintenance, increasing energy independence, reducing CO₂ emissions and decreasing the consumption of utilities: gas and electricity.

• Recuperation (heat recovery from ventilation) has helped offset our gas purchase costs. 
• As a result of optimising waste management using press and balers, the volume of waste and the quantity of containers necessary for the management of wood waste have been reduced, and the economic gain from selling the compacted waste has been achieved.
• An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) has supported the technological equipment so that short power outages do not disrupt the logistics and purchasing systems.
• The system supports the safety of processes, supports the efficient localisation of faults and reduces the reaction time of technical services in fault/ breakdown situations.
• We have minimised the time for locating goods, damages or other product-related issues. 
• The facility has become energy independent. In addition, connections were made at the switching stations to supply the facility with external power – mobile generators.

The use of these systems has made it possible to reduce electricity consumption for lighting purposes by 70-80%.

All facilities belonging to ILS undergo energy audits every four years. Their purpose is to indicate the areas where there is a possibility of introducing savings, i.e. in energy and natural resources consumption.

The solutions developed in Zakroczym will be applied in other facilities used by ILS Sp. z o.o

Construction and reconstruction of the network of regional warehouses

Infrastructural and logistics activities are processes that take years. However, if carried out wisely, they also help to optimise the operating costs and to have an actual impact on the environment protection. Since 2016, Inter Cars SA has led the process of launching seven modern regional warehouses. It was completed in 2019, along with seven warehouses located in Białystok, Lublin, Łódź, Pruszcz Gdański, Rzeszów, Szczecin and Wrocław. Each of these facilities is an “A” class warehouse ranging from 3,500 m² do 7,200 m². 

• Each of them is equipped with LED lighting and lighting motion sensors.
• Due to direct deliveries from the factories, the number of transports from central warehouses has been reduced, which has an impact not only on handling costs but also on lower CO₂ emissions and handling costs, especially for bulk goods.
• The delivery times to the end-customer have been reduced, resulting in a decrease in environmentally hazardous emissions.