Livability: our influence on the living environment | PostNL

Deliveries in 7 cities with light electric freight vehicles
More than 6,000 alternative pick-up locations for parcels
25 insect hotels and 150 nesting boxes for birds, bats and other nesting animals like hedgehogs

By 2030, we aim to deliver parcels and letters from the sorting location to the consumer emissions-free. That means no particulate matter or nitrogen emissions. As an interim step, we aim to achieve zero-emissions delivery in at least 27 city centres by 2025.

LEV stands for light electric vehicles. They’re completely emissions-free and much smaller than a regular delivery van – which is good for both the climate and the living environment. By using these vehicles, we help keep cities liveable. The LEVs are specially developed and produced for PostNL in the Netherlands. They are narrow, easy to manoeuvre and 100% electric, allowing most traffic to pass them easily.

We are ordering and sending more and more parcels, but the recipients are not always at home to receive them. That’s why we’re investing in more alternative delivery locations, such as PostNL points and parcel lockers. And with our delivery preferences, you can easily let us know if we should deliver your parcels to an alternative location. That means we can deliver more packages at once, driving fewer kilometres and saving carbon dioxide. We also make our parcel lockers available to other carriers.

“We’ve adjusted the delivery process with LEVs so that they can replace regular delivery vans one-to-one without compromising our efficiency.”

Jorick Dam, Program Manager Liveability

Parcel locker with city garden

In 2023, we developed the first parcel lockers with city gardens. These special lockers focus on endangered local plants and animals, with the roof designed to provide shelter for these species. In doing so, we make a small contribution to the preservation of local biodiversity. But our main goal is to raise awareness of endangered species and inspire people to make their own contributions.

Read more about the locker (Dutch)

We prefer to work in harmony with nature. We’re therefore committed to preserving and restoring biodiversity and ecosystems in everything we do. In doing so, we choose a localized approach. Our sorting locations are BREEAM-NL certified and comply with laws and regulations. For example, they have no negative impact on nearby Natura 2000 nature protection areas. We always conduct research on the nitrogen effects of our locations and the plants and animals in the area.

We adopt all environmental and nature advice that comes out of research on the surrounding area. One example is the green roof and planting around all our locations to encourage local biodiversity. We have now installed around 25 insect hotels and 150 nesting boxes for birds, bats and other nesting animals like hedgehogs. And more than 5,000 square metres of ivy grows on and around our bike sheds.

More about our sustainability approach

How do we reduce our emissions in everything we do? That’s our challenge for the future, and we gladly accept it. We’ve therefore set ourselves the goal of reaching net-zero by 2040, with almost no negative impact on the climate.

In a sustainable society, we must be more conscious of the resources we use. That means less waste and more recycling. We aim to make a significant contribution to the transition to a circular economy.