BESTSELLER is making its online business more climate-friendly thanks to an agreement with transport and logistics company FREJA. The two Danish companies have signed an agreement that will see biodiesel trucks transport BESTSELLER’s clothing to the Nordic countries and other parts of Europe. The agreement will significantly reduce CO2 emissions and represents an important step in BESTSELLER’s climate strategy.
A reduction of more than 500 tonnes of CO2 per year. This is what BESTSELLER and FREJA’s partnership will mean as they optimise their truck transport across several European countries. When customers shop via the websites of BESTSELLER’s brands, biodiesel trucks running on Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) will take on a large part of the total transport.
Biodiesel is better for the climate than conventional diesel fuel and it represents one of several steps BESTSELLER has taken towards more climate-friendly transport:
“At BESTSELLER, we are working to reduce our total CO2 emissions as part of our sustainability strategy Fashion FWD. While transportation doesn’t pose the biggest problem, it is an area where we can invest and improve relatively quickly. That is why we are also happy to join forces with FREJA and, with this more climate-friendly transport, take another step in the right direction,” says Anders Frost Nygård, who is responsible for BESTSELLER’s online deliveries.
In 2021, BESTSELLER entered into an agreement with Maersk, which ensures that the fashion company’s overseas transport becomes climate neutral. This has already meant a total reduction of 7,684 tonnes of CO2. And will in future mean a total annual reduction of approximately 11,500 tonnes.
Benelux and the whole of the Nordic region
FREJA and BESTSELLER put the first biodiesel trucks on the road in November to transport online purchases between BESTSELLER’s E-Commerce logistics facility in Poland and the Benelux countries. Following the success of that initial phase, the partnership is being expanded to include the Nordic region.
“Our partnership with BESTSELLER is unique and this project has become a reality because they are willing to invest in sustainable fuel. We want to develop together with our customers and try out new types of sustainable alternatives to diesel, but we cannot do it alone, so the collaboration with BESTSELLER is valuable to us,” says Torben Mortensen, FREJA’s Chairman of the Board Poland and Regional Director South Denmark.
FREJA’s trucks run on HVO, which is manufactured from waste products (e.g. used cooking oil). This can give up to 90 percent reduction of CO2e. This biodiesel is therefore considered to be climate neutral in the combustion phase, while the emissions from the processing of the biodegradable products for fuel are also limited.
“There is no doubt that the transport of the future will be better and will have a lesser impact on the climate and environment. In the collaboration with BESTSELLER, we have chosen to use our own trucks. This makes it possible for us to gather knowledge about consumption, service intervals, etc., and thus be able to further develop the product, ”explains Torben Mortensen.
More initiatives on the way
Thanks to its agreements with Maersk and FREJA, BESTSELLER has already reduced the impact of its value chain. This is all part of BESTSELLER’s ultimate ambition – or North Star – to ‘Bring Fashion FWD until we are climate positive, fair for all and circular by design’, and there is plenty more to come:
“Right now, we are looking at all the areas where we can choose better solutions and adopting them as quickly as possible. But we still have a long way to go and a lot to succeed. At times, we – and others – can be limited by technology, which hasn’t always reached the levels we need to achieve our goals. However, we will do what we can, and we will continuously initiate small and larger solutions, which can make a difference,” says Anders Frost Nygård from BESTSELLER.