The John Lewis Partnership has set an ambitious new target to have a zero carbon transport fleet by 2045.

To achieve this, all John Lewis & Partners and Waitrose and Partners delivery trucks, trailers and vans – more than 3,200 vehicles in total - will have to be switched to zero-emissions vehicles.

The announcement forms part of the Partnership’s new zero carbon strategy, which will see the company reduce its operational greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 at the latest, without purchasing offsets, and follows its announcement last year to switch its heavy trucks to low carbon biomethane-powered versions.

Transport emissions currently contribute over 40% to the company’s overall carbon footprint and it will initially focus on reducing HGV emissions, which account for over two thirds of its transport emissions.

In order to achieve this, the Partnership has pledged to switch over 500 of its heavy delivery trucks used for store deliveries to new state-of-the art trucks powered by 1more than 60 biomethane trucks have already been purchased.

As the UK’s electric vehicle infrastructure improves over the coming decades, the Partnership will switch its heavy trucks to electric vehicles, along with all smaller vehicles.

It has already started electrifying its fleet of vans, and is currently working with technology company Arrival to trial four smart electric home delivery vans. Six Waitrose and Partners delivery trucks are also currently trialling zero-emissions refrigeration units as part of the Low Emissions Freight and Logistics Trial.

Justin Laney, Partner and General Manager of Central Transport, John Lewis Partnership, said: “We have been working hard to reduce emissions from our transport fleet over the last few years and are proud to set our most ambitious target yet.

“Transport is a significant part of our overall carbon footprint so we need to take urgent action to decarbonise our fleet. It’s a huge challenge and viable technology and infrastructure still needs to be developed for heavy trucks, but we are committed to leading the way on the road to zero emissions.”

In addition to zero-emissions deliveries, the company is working on encouraging sustainable travel across the business and to all its locations, including looking at reviewing its company car scheme to incentivise the uptake of electric cars. It already has 75 Electric Vehicle (EV) charging points across the estate and from this year these will all offer a minimum of fast (7kW) charging.

Future of mobility minister Jesse Norman, said: “I’m delighted the John Lewis Partnership has pledged to go green. Delivering all of their goods to homes across Britain using a zero carbon fleet by 2045 is a great ambition, especially since they have thousands of vehicles.

“I look forward to seeing further businesses following their example, and making zero emission transport a reality.”

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