DHL Bundles Waste, Recycling Services in Envirosolutions Arm
A company better know for delivering mail and packages highlights its recycling and waste hauling services. Read More
DHL, mainly known for mail and freight delivery, has created a new division to highlight its waste and recycling offerings in Europe.
DHL Envirosolutions is the newest arm of DHL Supply Chain, and offers trash and recycling hauling, assistance for complying with packaging and electronic waste laws, and energy audits.
Pub chain JD Wetherspoon, for example, worked with DHL on a waste reduction and recycling program that led to its 800 pubs all sorting waste at their locations, with the recyclables getting picked up after deliveries come in. Through the new system, JD Wetherspoon increased the amount of aluminum it recycles by 89 percent, steel by 57 percent and cardboard and paper by 19 percent. In turn, the company saved ?150,000 ($243,000) in landfill fees.
As with other companies that have broadened their focus beyond specific services, DHL is building off of its knowledge and infrastructure in one sector to makes its business services more diverse.
Waste Management is a prime example of this strategy: As the company moves beyond just hauling trash to landfills, it has been folding in more recycling and composting services, with a focus on deriving value from waste.
DHL’s logistics knowledge for shipping and distribution naturally lends itself to also moving around recyclables, but DHL’s Envirosolutions also include administrative work, data management and consulting.
Two of DHL’s services focus on European Union laws that require companies to fund recovery and recycling programs for packaging and electronic waste. In those cases DHL offers to help companies understand how they are affected by the laws, gather and submit data, and also take on companies’ legal obligations.
DHL says it already handles thousands of tons of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) a year. Relatedly, DHL offers advice on minimizing packaging or making design changes to increase packaging recycling.
DHL’s waste hauling services, meanwhile, include general trash and recycling pickup, product take-back programs and hazardous waste handling.
And the company’s sustainability services, launched in 2008, include energy audits, proposals for energy management improvements and measuring energy savings in terms of both costs and environmental impact.
DHL truck image CC-licensed by The Consumerist/Flickr
