Marking an ongoing commitment to reducing carbon emissions, Knauf's haulage partner Nicholls has made the move to full 100% renewable fuel across their fleet of liquified natural gas (LNG) trucks. The move, welcomed by both Knauf and Nicholls, sees the two partners make a significant step towards a more carbon efficient supply chain.
For Knauf, the partnership reduces our Scope 3 emissions generated by haulage. Carbon reduction strategies involve categorising carbon output into one of three 'scopes'.
Scope 1 and 2 look internally within the business and direct emissions from owned assets and resources, followed by indirect emissions caused by the energy used and purchased. Scope 3 are emissions that are not produced by the company itself but are part of the supply chain.
Knauf emissions from deliveries represent roughly 23% of all Scope 3 emissions for the UK business. For Nicholls, the fleet accounts for the major portion of its Scope 1 and 2 emissions. It is therefore a priority for both organisations to reduce these emissions.
Starting this journey, Brian Moran, Logistics Manager at Knauf, undertook the challenge of looking at haulage partners and renewing key contracts. "The first priority was choosing to partner with a haulier who was committed to becoming more renewable."
"When I met with Nicholls, I was impressed by the fact they had undertaken their green journey themselves without any pressure from customers. They were already on a committed and defined sustainability journey," Brian recalls.
Rob Gearing, Head of Commercial and Business Development for Nicholls explains their route to a sustainable business: "Our vision started in 2014 with the building of a new site to include photovoltaic panels on the roofs to produce our own electricity and rainwater capture for use with the truck wash".
In 2018, LNG trucks were trialled and following the success, a local refuelling site was built to accommodate the fleet as well as serving the local area. "We started with 10 trucks, now we're up to 29 with more on order. Infrastructure used to be the main barrier but as this grows, so does our fleet."
In 2020 Nicholls were awarded the prestigious GreenFleet "Fleet of the Year" award for the reduction in CO2 and truck manufacturer IVECO appointed Nicholls as their Green ambassadors.
Moving to a more sustainable fuel
"While we do still use diesel trucks for deliveries where distance and infrastructure for LNG isn't viable, we are making the move to using more LNG trucks for our deliveries" Brian notes.
Celebrating this achievement and commitment to both sustainability and Nicholls, Knauf unveiled the first of many new liveried trucks highlighting the CO2 savings generated by the LNG trucks.
"We're extremely proud of the accomplishment by Nicholls and continue to be impressed and inspired by their green journey. With Nicholls bringing more LNG trucks into their fleet, this not only benefits our partnership but the industry and environment as a whole" summarises Brian.
Find out more about Knauf UK on their member profile page here
Member-created content 1 year ago | From members