Building more sustainable supply chains and mitigating the environmental impact of our operations is a long-term, multi-faceted commitment, and it is an urgent priority. We are working with customers, employees, industry partners and NGOs to address this complex global challenge. Our efforts are focused on:
- green supply chains that enable Agility and its customers to jointly address energy issues
- energy efficiency achieved by preserving natural resources and reducing greenhouse gases
- waste management measurements that help us first understand our environmental impact and then widespread adoption of “recycle, reuse, reduce” practices that help manage the impact
- policies that integrate environmental stewardship into our operations and culture
Greener supply chains
Green logistics is a major challenge in our fuel-dependent world. Agility is tackling the problem in two dimensions – within our own operations and helping customers gauge the environmental impact of their supply chains.
Spotlight: Carbon impact of customers’ shipments
Agility customers need to know the environmental impact of their respective shipments. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with transportation --mainly the CO2 resulting from the fuel our vehicles use to move customers’ goods -- can account for a significant portion of our customers’ supply chain impacts. Agility has responded to this emerging business need by developing a customer-focused environmental CO2 impact reporting tool.
Spotlight: Reducing packaging waste
Agility Indonesia partnered with a leading shoe manufacturer in Indonesia to eliminate unused carton space and maximize the usable space for shipping. Agility optimized each carton with a different thickness of material to accommodate the specific shipping needs. This shift away from single carton thickness allowed for a significant reduction in the amount of packaging material required for shipments. The project resulted in a reduction from 44 different carton sizes to 7. On average, 84 percent of all delivery cartons are reused.
Spotlight: Container freight consolidation
On April 20, 2009, Agility Dubai launched a Container Freight Station (CFS) at the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) in Dubai, the country’s largest manmade terminal equipped with the most modern infrastructure and equipment. This 1,000m² station is a major consolidation and redistribution service center that enables Agility to consolidate cargoes originating from ports worldwide and redistribute them throughout the Arabian Gulf region and Africa. By using a centralized distribution center, Agility is able to reduce costs and improve environmental performance.
Energy efficiency
Conserving energy in our operations is a complex and continuous process. We tackle the challenge with global programs, as well as local employee-led initiatives, believing that small steps, as well as large ones, can make a difference.
Spotlight: sustainable fleet management
Globally, Agility owns a fleet of about 5,000 vehicles in the Middle East and Asia, and subcontracts road transport in Europe and the Americas. We focus on fleet management, since the highest CO2 impact occurs where our trucking fleet is greatest. Among our actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are:
- Teaching drivers to reduce truck idling time and monitor fuel consumption
- Converting our fleet in Thailand to run on compressed natural gas
- Upgrading our Middle East fleet to meet Euro II emission standards
- Giving preference to subcontracted road partners in Europe that have environmental management systems in place for their fleets
Spotlight: carbon neutrality in New Zealand
Agility New Zealand was the first international freight and logistics provider to achieve carboNZero certification in support of the New Zealand government’s pledge to carbon neutrality.
Spotlight: Kuwait’s energy management campaign
Employees at our Kuwait headquarters are engaged in initiatives to reduce Agility’s energy consumption, preserve natural resources and reduce operating costs. Some of the simple but effective ways we are going green include installing fluorescent light bulbs, turning electricity off during off-peak hours, controlling air conditioner settings and conducting an employee awareness campaign. These efforts resulted in a 30 percent energy savings, which translated to a savings of 9,300 tons of CO2 emissions.
Waste management
Packaging materials commonly used in supply chain operations are a huge source of waste. Agility employees, as well as many of our customers, are on a mission to recycle, reuse and reduce. For example:
- Seventy percent of Agility’s Middle East truck fleet runs on retread tires, saving an estimated 168.000 gallons of oil.
- Agility’s Defense Distribution Facility, Southwest Asia, repaired and reused wooden pallets resulting in nearly 100 percent of all waste classified as reused or recycled. In addition, this unit recycled 31 tons of cartons, 19 tons of metal and 9 tons of plastic in 2007.
- Employees in Agility locations worldwide regularly recycle paper, aluminum cans and plastic bottles.
- Agility’s fleet maintenance program provides maintenance services that meet or exceed vehicle manufacture requirements. These services have extended the operational life expectancies of our vehicles, reducing the need to buy new ones.
To gain a deeper understanding of the impact of Agility’s operations on the environment, we analyzed key performance indicators in 14 offices that represent about 50 percent of Agility’s workforce and handle most of our freight and fleet volumes. We are still learning lessons from this analysis, and recognize Agility has more to learn and more to do in this important area of conservation.