A star in sustainability

Our QHCE officer Frank Kriellaars is responsible for making Versteijnen Logistics more sustainable. Keeping the criteria of Lean & Green in mind, he started looking for opportunities. Frank: ‘’We made huge leaps in our transport abilities and in our warehousing. For example: our old warehouse was replaced by a new one in which we can store much more. In this way we reduce our usage in gas, lighting, water, and heating. LED lighting is installed in each warehouse and soon also in our headquarters. In our warehouses we move around with electrical vehicles that run on lithium batteries. They replace the old lead-based batteries and make sure we don’t have to change batteries on vehicles anymore, as they can now be charged.”

The biggest conservation was made in our vehicle fleet. Frank: “We started planning the rides differently, in which the LTL-transport was planned as optimal as possible. We already invested in some new lorries which use less fuel and have lower emission usage. Also, we are making plans to see if it is possible to use environmentally friendly engines for regional transport. Furthermore, we are looking at the possibilities for using lorries which run on hydrogen, electricity or HVO. However, these areas are still in development.”

Sustainability is a trade-off between Versteijnen Logistics and its customers, Frank explains. “It is a two-way street in which we, as well as our customers, become more sustainable. We will get to a point at which it only becomes possible to further extend your sustainability together. It is important to think alike at this point. For example, it is very interesting to look together at using different forms of fuel.”

“Achieving stars in the Lean & Green programme is a nice confirmation that we are heading in the right direction. The programme makes us think about our stance in terms of sustainability and optimalization of logistical processes. We made huge steps forward and are looking at ways to become even more sustainably in the future. Our ambition reaches further then ISO40001 and Lean & Green.”