Using greener transportation

In 2008, we won the Low Carbon and Efficiency Award at the Motor Transport Awards, in recognition of our achievement towards reducing CO2.

Since 2007, we have been working towards cutting the CO2 emissions of each case of goods delivered by 50 per cent by 2012. The big question is: how?

We reviewed every element of the distribution operation and found ways to make improvements on our carbon footprint:

• We’ve reduced the number of empty lorries on the road by working in partnership with other companies and suppliers. 
• We’re using more and more double-decker trailers, which carry 55 per cent more products per journey (single deck: 45, double deck: 75 cages per trip).
• The Tesco Express is our very own train and carries stock between our distribution centres in Daventry and Livingston. One train journey by the Tesco Express can carry the same as 28 lorries, saving over 14,560 lorry journeys every year. We've also just launched a store delivery from Grangemouth to Inverness (servicing stores local to the area) that saves 13,104 lorry journeys per year. 
• Battery-powered vans are making deliveries for our online store, Tesco.com – saving around 180 tonnes of CO2 each year! We also have seven hybrid vans in operation, which should save around 10-15 per cent in fuel.
• We’re using barges to transport wine from Liverpool to Manchester, along the famous Manchester Ship Canal, slashing carbon emissions by around 80 per cent. Using canals in this way also takes 50 lorries off the roads every week, which results in a phenomenal 1.1 million fewer heavy lorry journeys in the UK. It’s all part of our aim to halve the emissions per case of goods delivered in our name by 2012. 
• We are making our Tesco direct catalogue operations greener by using rail and sea transport, where possible, rather than road – which means huge savings on carbon emissions (see more below). 
• We are also trialling a number of new technologies that will improve fuel efficiency in our lorries. These include engine remapping and black box technology.

The Tesco direct catalogue

We strive to make the Tesco direct catalogue as 'green' as possible, in its production and transportation.  

The paper used to produce the catalogue is produced in Finland and is delivered to printers in Italy and Germany using greener transportation alternatives, including sea and rail.

Our Italian printer transports the catalogue back to England by train – saving around 130 tonnes of CO2 emissions – while one of our German printers uses Mercedes Actros trucks. These trucks are the official world-record holder for the lowest CO2 emissions.

The Tesco rail network is used to transport completed catalogues into our distribution depots – reducing transportation by road and minimising CO2 as much as possible.