bpost’s Lueven Ecozone has been expanded to include Kessel-Lo, Wilsele and Wijgmaal, meaning all territories in the City of Leuven now received sustainable deliveries – a total of 103,000 inhabitants, up from 58,000.
The Belgian post, which has been offering a network of 52 pickup points with zero-emission letter and parcel deliveries in Leuven city center and Heverlee since April 2022, will now use electric vehicles and bikes for all delivery rounds in the region.
Within just a few months of the launch of the Ecozone in 2022, the number of home deliveries had decreased by 6% and that figure continues to fall, according to bpost. The number of home deliveries in Leuven is currently 9% lower than the pre-Ecozone figure, and an in-house bpost study shows that Leuven performs well in terms of sustainable deliveries at Belgium level, with almost one in four parcels delivered to pickup points.
Jos Donvil, CEO bpost Belgium, commented, “Sustainable urban logistics is an important driver of accessibility and quality of life in cities. That’s why bpost is investing heavily in zero-emission mail deliveries and a dense network of pickup points. That’s because our Ecozones, which depend on a dense network of pickup points and zero-emission deliveries, allow us to substantially reduce the ecological impact of our activities. What began as a pilot project in 2020 has grown into one of our most impressive achievements on our way to net-zero emissions by 2040.”
Enlargement to all suburbs
The expanded Leuven Ecozone will see all mail delivered from the Philipssite Mailcenter using 12 electric bikes with trailers and 65 electric cars. bpost and the City of Leuven are also investigating the feasibility of new parcel locker locations in these suburbs.
“The inhabitants of Kessel-Lo, Wilsele and Wijgmaal will now also benefit from zero-emission mail deliveries,” commented Leuven council’s transport and sustainability portfolio holder David Dessers. “We are delighted that the Ecozone has been such a success in Leuven and that zero-emission deliveries will now be made across the whole of our city. The combination of the green fleet and the finely meshed network of parcel lockers and pickup points has had a clearly positive impact on traffic and quality of life in the city centre and Heverlee. We are hoping for the same outcome in the three suburbs.”
bpost has now launched its Ecozone model in 15 cities and 36 postcode (ZIP) zones.