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Sustainability certification based on international standards: EcoVadis has rewarded GLS with the Silver rating for its commitment to corporate social responsibility.

Transparency for GLS customers in respect of sustainability activities. To achieve this goal GLS took part in the independent EcoVadis certification programme for the second time in a row, achieving a Silver rating in August 2018.

Compared with the previous year, the Group improved its performance in all four categories, thus moving up from Bronze to Silver. As a result, the parcel company is amongst the top 21 per cent in the logistics sector – and even amongst the top 18 per cent when it comes to environmental issues. GLS comes in the top 12 per cent of all companies evaluated by EcoVadis.

Sustainability put to the test

EcoVadis evaluates a company’s sustainability management on the basis of 21 criteria across the four themes of environment, social, ethics and sustainable procurement. The criteria have been assigned different weightings in the final result. The evaluation is based on international standards such as the Global Reporting Initiative and the UN Global Compact.

When conducting its analysis, EcoVadis attaches equal importance to the strategy, actions and results of the management system across all four themes. The analysis also gives GLS an opportunity to perform targeted validation of its sustainability measures and improve them on an ongoing basis.

More about sustainability at GLS

For the second year in a row, GLS France has been rewarded in the “Logistics Innovation” category at the E-Commerce Awards 2019. In October 2019 the company has won the silver award for the project of ecological delivery by bike in partnership with Tousfacteurs.

In some central parts of Paris, GLS has been testing a new premium service in cooperation with the start-up Tousfacteurs since April 2019. Private parcel recipients who have been informed of a pending delivery have the option to select a green evening delivery by bike.

Using the technology of Tousfacteurs, the specialists for evening deliveries, recipients can locate their delivery driver and schedule the delivery right up to the last minute.

13th E-Commerce Awards

The E-Commerce Awards are a professional event organized by the editorial staff of the E-commerce Magazine. The objective is to highlight the best initiatives and the most outstanding players in the sector, while promoting exchanges and networking between professionals during the major awards evening. It also rewards the E-Commerce personalities of the year.

Last year, GLS France was honoured for GLSROUTE. This web app was designed to facilitate contact between delivery driver and recipient.

The GLS Group has expanded its commitment on the American continent with a new partnership. From June 2019, Estafeta will deliver GLS consignments in Mexico and, in a second step, will feed parcels for Europe and North America into the GLS network.

Estafeta is the second-largest logistics, courier and parcel service provider in Mexico and covers the fifth-largest country in the Americas with an extensive network and over 6,500 employees. The company’s infrastructure includes three hubs and 57 depots. Six airplanes and 3,600 vehicles are deployed for transportation and delivery.

GLS customers in Europe and North America will benefit from the connection to the modern and high-performance network in Mexico, that complements the existing operation in the US and Canada. With North America and Europe, GLS connects the world’s biggest trade regions.

GLS France is testing a new premium service in collaboration with the startup Tousfacteurs: recipients in Paris can receive their parcels in the evening and on short notice. Tousfacteurs delivers the GLS parcels environmentally friendly by bike.

The service is available in several districts of Paris for a charge of a few Euros. After receiving a message about the upcoming delivery of a parcel, recipients can choose between two premium options: delivery between 18:00 and 20:00, or between 20:00 and 22:00.

The service gives recipients who are not at home during the day even more flexibility to choose their preferred time of delivery. In addition, delivery by bike is an innovative solution for sustainable city logistics in the densely populated districts of Paris.

This solution proposed by Tousfacteurs fits into the GLS offers, including the FlexDeliveryService, and offers more flexibility for the recipients regarding their delivery.

GLS France completes its biggest infrastructure project within the last years: moving its depot in Metz to a bigger and environmentally friendly site. The new building has a capacity of about 50.000 parcels daily and offers a 24-hour connection from Germany.

The depot in Metz plays a major role in the network of GLS France. As an international hub, it also serves as a main gate between France and Germany. Because of increasing delivery volumes, the previous site had reached its capacity limit. The new depot in Metz allows GLS to increase the daily capacity by about 50 per cent. The new property has a size of almost 28.000 square meters, allowing for further enlargements of the depot in the future.

GLS does not only provide a more efficient parcel handling at the new depot, but also implements various green measures. Efficient LED lamps reduce the power consumption of the new depot and green energy comes from a local windfarm. Among other ongoing sustainability projects is the installation of beehives for the production of GLS honey.