John Lewis and Waitrose pledge to power entire delivery fleet with bio-methane by 2028

John Lewis & Partners and Waitrose & Partners will convert their combined fleet of diesel lorries into vehicles powered by clean bio-methane over the next 10 years, according to the new pledge. 

The transition will reduce fleet emissions by more than 80% and save more than 49,000 tonnes of CO2 annually – equivalent to the carbon footprint of more than 6,000 UK households.

John Lewis and Waitrose have together been early adopters of transport fuelled by compressed natural gas (CNG) and the duo is currently exploring the economic and environmental benefits of switching from diesel to the low-carbon bio-methane fuel.

Commenting on the new pledge, John Lewis Partnership’s general manager of central transport Justin Laney said: “We have been pioneering the adoption of long-distance bio-methane trucks in the UK and scaling this up to our entire heavy truck fleet will deliver significant environmental and operational benefits.

“Five bio-methane trucks produce the same emissions as one diesel lorry and they are also much quieter, helping reduce not only greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution but also noise pollution in our cities.” 

Lifetime savings

Renewable bio-methane CNG can be up to 30% to 40% cheaper than diesel and can typically cut CO2 emissions by 85% as a result. Heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) such as the fleet trucks used by retailers haven’t benefitted from the electrification of the transport sector and alternative fuels are therefore desirable to help lower emissions.

Waitrose currently operates 49 dedicated CNG trucks – some of which have a range of more than 500 miles – with nine more set to enter service later this year. Both John Lewis and Waitrose expect the trials to create lower running costs that will generate between £75,000 to £100,000 in lifetime savings per truck, compared with a diesel equivalent.

The new commitment was made by the John Lewis Partnership as part of the UK Government’s first Green GB Week (15-19 October), designed to raise awareness of the benefits of clean growth.

As the official media partner of Green GB Week, edie has been working closely with the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to encourage businesses to step up their ambitions and submit new sustainability commitments through the online Mission Possible Pledge Wall.

JOhn Lewis is one of 50 companies that now feature on the Pledge Wall, joining the likes of Amazon, Deloitte, Kingfisher, Royal Mail and HSBC.

— POST YOUR PLEDGE ON THE WALL HERE —

Matt Mace