Australia Post sets new, ambitious environmental targets

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Australia Post has today announced the achievement of its 2020 environmental targets, reducing carbon emissions by 25 per cent and diverting 100,000 tonnes of material from landfill – enough to fill 16 Olympic sized swimming pools.

In line with its continued focus on sustainability, Australia Post has set ambitious new targets designed to achieve further emissions and operational waste reductions as well as considerably increase the organisation’s recycling rate by 30 June 2025.

Australia Post Executive General Manager Community & Consumer Nicole Sheffield said that with Australia’s largest delivery network and as one of the nation’s most trusted brands, Australia Post has an important role to play in helping to build a sustainable future.

“Since 2000 we have reduced our carbon emissions by 25 per cent – the equivalent to moving 41,665 cars off the road – and since 2016 we’ve diverted 100,000 tonnes of material from landfill,” Ms Sheffield said.

“This is extremely significant given the number of addresses we deliver to increases every year and parcel volumes continue to grow. In April this year alone our parcel volumes were 64 per cent higher than the same time in 2019.

“But there is always more to do, so we’ve set ambitious new targets that help us continue to drive a sustainable future for all Australians,” Ms Sheffield continued.

Australia Post’s new environmental targets will see a 15 per cent reduction in emissions by 2025, equalling a total reduction of 127,315 tonnes, in addition to a 70 per cent uplift in recycling and a 20 per cent decrease in operational waste*.

“Our sustainability targets underpin everything that we do from the products and services we provide to the vehicles we select for our fleet,” said Ms Sheffield.

“Our plastic satchels are made from 80 per cent recycled contents and we have a soft-plastics recycling partnership with REDCycle. We’ve also introduced carbon neutral delivery for parcels sent via our retail network and MyPost Business platform, offsetting the emissions of over 62 million parcels in the past year.

“We’re also very proud to be Australia’s largest electric fleet operator with more than 1,100 electric delivery vehicles and almost 2,500 electric bikes delivering to homes and businesses around the country.”

Australia Post’s three-year Environmental Action Plan concluded in June 2020. The company is currently 12 months into its 2020-22 Group Corporate Responsibility Plan Everyone Matters: Our plan for inclusive and sustainable prosperity. The strategy is available at: auspost.com.au/CR

*These targets are relative to Australia Post’s 2019 baseline

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