NZ Post takes step towards carbon neutrality

Person-to-person sending of all mail and parcels with NZ Post will be carbon neutral from April 2021.

That means for any domestic or international letter or parcel sent with NZ Post it has calculated the carbon emitted on its journey, taken steps to reduce emissions and offset the remaining unavoidable emissions.

This includes carbon emitted through the entire lifecycle of the packaging – all the way from production to recycling or landfilling, as well as processing, transportation and delivery of the parcel or mail item, NZ Post says.

“We calculate the carbon emitted whether you use NZ Post packaging or your own,” NZ Post chief executive David Walsh says.

NZ Post is introducing more EVS to its fleet and supporting contractors to get into EVs too.

Walsh says NZ Post aims to be a fully carbon neutral business from 2030, explaining this doesn’t include business customers which each have their own journey to carbon neutrality.

NZ Post is also making its sorting depots more energy efficient and it has recently changed its packaging to a lower emissions material.

“We offset our unavoidable carbon emissions (such as those emitted by planes), through buying carbon credits from local native forestry projects and international gold standard projects,” Walsh says.

“In the first year of offering carbon neutral sending we expect to offset around 17,000 tonnes of carbon. This is equivalent to 22,813 car trips from Cape Reinga to Bluff and back or taking 7870 cars off the road.”

Carbon neutral sending applies to all consumer products, including ParcelPost and BYO packaging parcels sent in NZ and overseas, as well as when customers arrange sending online such as with Print Postage online, Send it Now, and TradeMe Book A Courier.

Visit nzpost.co.nz/about-us/sustainability for more information.