Driving environmental change

Australia Post is dedicated to finding new ways to improve. This means minimising costs, better managing our resources and identifying avenues to create value for our customers, our workforce and for the environment.

This year we continued our focus on driving clean energy and energy efficiency programs across our 1,200 facilities, as well as becoming more fuel efficient by exploring alternative fuels for our fleet of 12,000 vehicles. We also worked with our customers to develop better environmental outcomes.

Our approach to environmental management supports our commitments under the United Nations Global Compact and aligns with the International Standard for Environmental Management, ISO14001. Our Environmental Management System enables us to identify and prioritise important environmental issues. It guides continual improvements in our environmental performance, which is monitored by the Australia Post Board Audit and Risk Committee. In 2013–14 we had no significant environmental incidents, spills, fines or prosecutions.

For more detailed environment data go to auspost.com.au/annualreport2014

Reducing our carbon emissions

In 2010 we established an ambitious target to reduce carbon emission levels by 25 per cent by 2020 (based on tonnes of carbon¹ emission levels generated in 2000). Four years on, we continue to implement carbon reduction initiatives such as our National Energy Management Plan, energy audits, energy and fuel efficiency projects and our dedicated research and development (R&D) activities across our business.

In 2013–14 we reduced our Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by a further 6.9 per cent. We have now achieved a total 14 per cent improvement on our Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions baseline, which keeps us on track to achieve our 2020 target.

This year we revised the original Scope 1 and 2 baseline to include StarTrack by including the StarTrack total of 50,601 tonnes of Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions from our 2013 National Greenhouse and Energy Report (NGER).

The revised profile of our emissions appears below:

Over the past three years (2010–11 to 2013–14) we have achieved annual average savings of 15,330 tonnes of carbon.

This year we produced 299,557 tonnes of Scope 1 and 2 emissions (down 22,301 tonnes of carbon from last year), which, for the first time, included StarTrack's carbon emissions.

We achieved savings this year through a combination of meeting internal energy efficiency targets, property upgrades, changes to emission factors, and the benefits of transferring a major data centre to third-party management.

1 Tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) – expressed as “tonnes of carbon”.

Greater fuel efficiency

We are constantly exploring ways to adopt alternative fuels across our transport fleet as part of our broader environmental strategy. Overall fuel consumption was down 3.9 per cent (more than 1.6 million litres) this year and we achieved a further 4,411-tonne reduction in carbon emissions due to new initiatives such as:

• using biofuel at selected facilities, (saving almost 1,000 tonnes of carbon each year)
• commissioning 1,871 new Honda NBC110s motorbikes that are 60 per cent more fuel-efficient
• transitioning from six-cylinder to four-cylinder sedans, with more than 100 hybrid vehicles
• using an extendable conveyor to “loose load” parcels directly into transport containers on selected line haul routes, improving container storage capacity
• partnering with Renault Australia to assess the use of Australia's first fully electric-powered commercial van – the Renault Kangoo Maxi Z.E. (see image below). We expect to halve energy costs and achieve a 100 per cent reduction in carbon emissions when compared to our existing vehicles.

Image: The Renault Kangoo Maxi Z.E.

Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions (tonnes CO2e) – by source

	Emission source	1999‑00 (baseline)	2010‑11	2011‑12	2012‑13	2013‑14
Scope 1 Direct emissions	Natural gas	5,444	5,972	5,308	5,819	4,461
	LPG	3,019	5,266	5,820	5,796	5,962
	Heating oil	68	0	0	0	0
	Diesel (including electricity generation)	86,630	94,716	96,488	97,320	95,809
	Petrol	15,866	12,706	11,862	11,432	9,724
	Total	111,027	118,656	119,478	120,368	115,956
Scope 2 Indirect emissions	Electricity	237,409	226,892	212,044	201,490	183,601
	Total	237,409	226,892	212,044	201,490	183,601
	Total Scope 1 and Scope 2 Direct and indirect emissions	348,436	345,548	331,522	321,858	299,557
Scope 3	Energy Production and Transfer	40,576	37,001	36,761	36,120	39,479
	Subcontracted transport and business travel	0	454,618	429,423	407,564	575,458
	LPOs electrcity consumption (estimated)	0	16,704	16,790	13,743	26,089
	Waste disposal	29,031	14,106	9,497	0	10,539
	Total Scope 3	69,607	522,429	512,550	503,933	651,563
	Total Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions	418,043	867,977	844,072	825,790	951,120

Note: All 2013–14 data includes StarTrack. Scope 1 and 2 emissions from baseline to 2012–13 include StarTrack 2013 NGER data.

Subcontracted transport and business travel provided for the 2013 calendar year. Majority of Scope 3 subcontracted transport carbon emissions are based on km travelled. Kilometres travelled are based on the type of vehicle and converted to carbon emissions using the National Greenhouse Accounts Factors – July 2013.

Greater energy efficiency

Energy use within our buildings and facilities accounts for approximately two-thirds of our carbon emissions, making it one of our largest environmental impacts.

This year energy efficiency improvements across our network of post offices, mail facilities and administrative offices achieved 3,704 MWh of energy savings and saved 3,397 tonnes of carbon. These initiatives included:

• 31 energy audits, resulting in the introduction of 17 initiatives. They also achieved approximately $240,000 and 1,321 MWh (1,129 tonnes of carbon) in savings
• dedicated projects at various Australia Post sites, including the installation of new SmartCool climate control systems across 97 post offices. This led to 288 MWh (251 tonnes of carbon) and $67,000 in energy savings
• a project at our Ballarat Business Centre which saw new lighting, insulation and rapid doors installed. This improved the site's energy efficiency by more than 30 per cent. Some initiatives were combined at this site to achieve a significant overall energy saving
• a program to replace heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) units and/or introduce speed roller doors at almost 100 facilities.

StarTrack House

In 2013–14 we achieved significant energy savings as part of a major refurbishment at StarTrack House (see Postal Services). The new initiatives included:

• new energy-efficient T5 light fittings that will reduce energy consumption and extend the life of lighting tubes, without compromising lighting levels
• more than 1,000 solar PV panels producing approximately 370 MWh of electricity per annum; enough to reduce carbon emissions by around 318 tonnes of carbon.