DHL uses renewable diesel to transport pharmaceutical products for Alexion in Ireland, Europe

Photo: DHL Group

DHL Global Forwarding’s freight division and Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease are strengthening their collaboration, which began in 2015, through the use of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), also known as renewable diesel, for the transport of pharmaceutical products on European roads.

The use of HVO, one of DHL’s sustainable approaches, will reduce annual greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions by up to 90 percent compared to diesel fuel.

The initiative covers both domestic and international routes from the Dublin and Athlone facilities.

“This is another step in the right direction as we strive to run more sustainable operations for our customers that reduce the inherent GHG emissions in transporting goods,” said Maurice Meade, the managing director at DHL Global Forwarding Freight Ireland. “We are delighted to see Alexion be one of the trailblazers to make this significant switch in approach and thereby follow up on their sustainability goals with clear actions.”

With this change, Alexion is taking on a pioneering role in the pharmaceutical industry in Ireland.

“Today’s announcement with DHL to move from diesel to HVO fuel is another milestone in our commitment to reducing our environmental impact and dependency on fossil fuels within our global supply chain in relation to scope 3,” said Sylvia Kiely, the vice president of global supply chains and product strategy lead for Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease. “By working with our partners such as DHL to extend ecoconscious practices to our full freight network, we can further minimize our environmental impact and dependency on fossil fuels within our global supply chain.”

This partnership fits seamlessly into the DHL Group’s sustainability strategy, which aims to reduce all logistics-related emissions to net-zero by 2050.

It underlines DHL’s ability to develop innovative and customized solutions for specific customer requirements while making a significant contribution to decarbonizing transport and logistics.

With 500 HVO-based deliveries annually to 10 European countries, DHL said the cooperation between DHL Global Forwarding and Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease sets new standards for sustainable logistics in the pharmaceutical industry.