DHL focuses on sustainable transportation of pharmaceutical products for Alexion in Ireland and Europe

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DHL Global Forwarding, Freight and Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease, are strengthening their collaboration, which began in 2015, with a pioneering step towards more sustainability. The two partners will use hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) as an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional diesel for the European road transport of pharmaceutical products.

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.

Maurice Meade, Managing Director at DHL Global Forwarding Freight Ireland, says: “This is another step in the right direction as we strive to run more sustainable operations for our customers that reduce the inherent Greenhouse emissions in transporting goods. 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”.

Alexion sets new standards for sustainable pharmaceutical logistics
With this change, Alexion is taking on a pioneering role in the pharmaceutical industry in Ireland. Sylvia Kiely Vice President – Global Supply Chain and Product Strategy Lead, Alexion AstraZeneca Rare Disease emphasizes the importance of the initiative: “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. By working with our partners such as DHL to extend eco-conscious practices to our full freight network, we can further minimize our environmental impact and dependency on fossil fuels within our global supply chain.”

In line with DHL’s sustainability strategy
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 ten European countries, the cooperation between DHL Global Forwarding, Freight and Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease sets new standards for sustainable logistics in the pharmaceutical industry.