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Is this trend the next great leap towards a more sustainable CEP industry?

Under pressure from regulatory authorities to become more sustainable, CEP operators are turning every stone to lower their carbon emissions. The last year has seen an increased focus on a somewhat unknown strategy in the CEP industry's sustainability agenda.

article summary

  • CEP operators are under increasing ESG and regulatory pressure to cut carbon emissions, prompting a shift beyond greener transport towards optimising the sustainability of buildings and operational infrastructure.
  • A growing trend sees CEP companies investing in green building operations—such as energy‑efficient sorting hubs, renewable energy generation and smart building management systems—to significantly reduce operational emissions.
  • Real‑world examples, including DHL eCommerce and La Poste Group, demonstrate how sustainable buildings can lower energy consumption while supporting long‑term zero‑emission targets, in some cases as early as 2040.
  • While green buildings alone are not enough, they are emerging as a critical new dimension alongside electrified fleets and alternative fuels in the race towards a more sustainable, zero‑emission CEP industry.
CEP operators are doing everything possible to optimise their supply chain to alleviate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns.
Instead of simply lowering emissions from transportation and vehicles, many operators are exploring new ways to make their operations more sustainable. For example, an increasing number of CEP companies are turning their attention to a part of the business sometimes overlooked in the context of ESG: their building operations.
That is one of the findings of BEUMER Group’s Industry Report 2025 Outlook: The Parcel Box Paradox, which has just been released. The report offers valuable insight into the current state of the CEP industry and what we can expect looking ahead.

Zero emissions by 2040

In recent years, the CEP industry has seen an increased focus on ESG matters and a growing willingness to invest in more ESG-friendly technologies.
Many companies have even committed themselves to a zero-emission deadline. In BEUMER Group’s Industry Report 2025 Outlook: The Parcel Box Paradox, you can read more about how companies fold out their ambitions and how they plan to achieve them – in some cases as early as 2040.
An increasing number of CEP operators have also started exploring another potentially effective strategy for lowering emissions: green building operations.

What are green building operations?

Let’s take a look at some of the building’s ESG features:
  • 684 panels that generate around 25 percent of the building’s total energy needs
  • Partly built using recycled materials including steel and flooring
  • A building management system to monitor conditions and secure high-efficiency in heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems
  • Three EV charging stations
  • Rainwater retention system to feed irrigation
DHL eCommerce is far from the only CEP operator to walk the walk when investing in green building operations.
Another fascinating case study is the French postal service La Poste Group, which is investing a whopping €400 million to reduce its energy consumption and limit the carbon output of its buildings. Part of the investment will cover new performance control systems to improve the energy efficiency at the company’s 1,300 sites.
In BEUMER Group’s Industry Report 2025 Outlook: The Parcel Box Paradox, we take a closer look at some of the CEP operators investing in green building operations, along with the technologies they are using.

A new dimension to the ESG race

Going forward it’s clear that adding ESG features to buildings won’t be enough alone to get CEP operators over the green line.
More green buildings will have to be combined with other ESG investments: electric and hydrogen-powered trucks for example, or perhaps even battery-powered options such as the electric cargo bike. In the new BEUMER report, there are several examples of how CEP operators are using different technologies to diversify their fleet.
However, growing investments in green buildings will increasingly become an important dimension in the race to achieve a zero-emission CEP industry.
To learn more about how CEP operators are increasingly prioritising their ESG responsibility in 2025 and beyond, read BEUMER Group’s Industry Report 2025 Outlook: The Parcel Box Paradox. You can n download the full report right here.

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