Sustainable buildings and facilities

Our new parcel sorting centers are among the most sustainable commercial buildings in the Netherlands. In the future, we also want to realize all buildings with as minimum environmental impact as possible. At our locations, we work as sustainably and efficiently as possible. We install LED lighting and reduce our energy consumption. On average, we generate 50% percent of the electricity for our parcel sorting centers locally ourselves by installing solar panels on the roofs. With the recent BREEAM NL certification of 25 parcel sorting centers, we show that we are leaders in sustainable sorting centers. BREEAM NL is the sustainability label for achieving sustainable buildings with minimal environmental impact. The eight newly built PostNL sorting centers are among the most sustainable commercial buildings in the Netherlands with the highest attainable levels of "Outstanding"(7) or "Excellent" (1). Our headquarters is itself the most sustainable national monument in the Netherlands.

Biodiversity and sustainable forest management

We strive to prevent or minimize negative environmental impacts as much as possible. Through our focus on reducing CO2, NOX and particulate matter emissions, particularly through the transition to 100% emission-free last-mile delivery in the Netherlands and Belgium, we are reducing our negative impact on biodiversity as much as possible.

We are also helping to protect nature and are committed to promoting biodiversity and sustainable forest management. We do this for example by taking biodiversity aspects into account in the location planning and development of our buildings. PostNL occupies some 125 buildings with a surface area of almost 800,000 m2. For all new buildings we conduct a biodiversity study that meets the biodiversity requirements of the BREAAM sustainability hallmark, including in Hoogeveen and Alphen aan de Rijn. This examines how local biodiversity can best be supported. We are also investigating the possible nitrogen effect on the nearby Natura 2000 areas.

We are improving the biodiversity around our buildings by constructing flora and fauna facilities; for example, In 2022 we had research carried out for 20 locations into improving the grass meadows with the possibility of sowing them with native flowers and herb species, we have approximately 150 nesting boxes for birds, bats and other nesting animals such as hedgehogs, more than 25 insect hotels and at various locations more than 5,000 m2 of ivy on and around the bicycle sheds. To stop deforestation, we choose only FSC products.