Ikea Supply Chain Operations will cut its green house gas emissions from its long-haul transport operations by shifting hinterland traffic at the Port of Barcelona from truck to rail, using A.P. Moller-Maersk’s (Maersk) end-to-end logistics solutions.
In a statement, Maersk said Ikea Supply Chain Operations can cut its emissions by approximately 700 tonnes a year by modifying its operations at the Tarragona terminal.
Diego Perdones Montero, Managing Director for South West Europe & Maghreb Area at Maersk, said, “Maersk´s offering goes beyond moving cargo from A to B. We grow together with our customers, building tailor-made solutions based on sustainability and prioritization.
“For us, it is crucial to dig into our customers ´needs as well as their current operations and find the needful additions that support offering and implementing truly sustainable solutions.”
Before the project started back in September 2020, the routing of freight from Barcelona port Terminal to Valls (Customer Warehouse & Distribution) was done by truck.
Now, train is transporting the goods from the port to the Tarragona Terminal, a distance of 100 km. The intermodal solution is managed and operated by APM Railways.
The last transport distance, from Tarragona Terminal to IKEA Valls Distribution Centre (30 kms), is still done by truck.
Provided an annual volume forecasted of 10.000 containers, this shift reduces the IKEA Supply Chain Operations footprint on this transport flow by 75%, Maersk said.
Elisabeth Munck af Rosenschöld, Sustainability Manager in IKEA Supply Chain Operations, also commented, ““IKEA´s goal is to become climate positive by 2030. For us in IKEA Supply Chain Operations this translates into reducing the emissions from every transport that we do by an average of -70%.
“We believe in a diversified portfolio of solutions to decarbonise transportation and there is no silver bullet. It is through innovative collaborations and close partnerships with our service providers, like Maersk, that we can make the needed, ambitious steps to reach our goal.”