Becoming A Sustainable E-Commerce Fulfillment Company

Background and Goals

As one of Europe's leading e-commerce fulfillment companies, we at byrd understand our significant responsibility towards both our customers and the planet. Research from MIT’s Supply Chains Initiative indicates that goods transportation contributed around 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2021, rising to 11% when including warehousing and port emissions. We are dedicated to minimizing and offsetting our emissions to continuously improve our environmental footprint.

Approach

For a company like byrd, the question arises: “How can we contribute to a more environmentally friendly industry?”

Our strategy for reducing and offsetting CO2 emissions involves four key steps:

1. Calculating Emissions:
   We partnered with ClimatePartner to accurately measure our emissions, a crucial step to understand our current position and identify areas for improvement.
   
   
2. Reducing and Avoiding Emissions:
   Every step towards avoiding emissions is positive for the environment. Since 2021, we have more than halved our emissions (453.812 kg in 2021 according to ClimatePartner calculations, though a more detailed assessment was conducted this time). Nevertheless, there is still considerable room for optimization.
   
   
3. Offsetting Emissions:
   Recognizing that not all emissions can be eliminated, we compensate for 100% of our emissions through targeted projects.
   
   
4. Creating Transparency:
   We believe in sharing our efforts to inspire others as well as addressing past and current shortcomings and existing hurdles openly and try to follow through with that. You can find more details here

Detailed Emissions Calculation for 2023

In partnership with ClimatePartner, we collected extensive data from January 1 to December 31, 2023, including energy consumption, business travel, material use, waste production, and transport routes. These data were independently verified by ClimateParter to ensure precision. With this data, they created a comprehensive CO2 balance. For transparency, we want to explicitly note that these emissions are attributed to byrd and do not include the emissions of our warehouse and shipping partners.

byrd’s Emissions in 2023

We produced 163,985.73 kg of CO2 emissions and added another 10% safety margin to the calculation leading to a total offset of 180.400 kg CO2 emissions.

Emissions by Scope

Our emissions are distributed across the different scopes of the GHG Protocol as follows:

Scope 1: Direct Emissions

These include all direct emissions from sources owned or controlled by byrd, such as company vehicles, heating, or cooling systems.

This category accounts for 3.6% of byrd’s emissions - approximately 6 tons of CO2 in 2023.

Scope 2: Indirect Emissions from Energy Consumption

Scope 2 includes purchased heating or cooling, such as electricity and gas.

This category represents 15.2% of byrd’s emissions, totaling nearly 25 tons of CO2 in 2023.

Scope 3: Other Indirect Emissions

Scope 3 encompasses all other indirect emissions within the company’s value chain, including business travel (flights, trains, hotel stays, rental and private vehicles), employee commutes, home office emissions, purchased goods and services (catering, electronics, water, office supplies), fuel and energy-related emissions (pre-chain electricity, pre-chain heat, pre-chain fleet), and operational waste. 

Scope 3 is the largest factor in our company, contributing 81.1% of our CO2 emissions, or 133 tons of CO2.

Key Insights

This evaluation provided valuable insights for ongoing improvement. We identified significant areas for enhancement:

• Despite most staff traveling by train to our offsite events, air travel remains the largest negative environmental factor for byrd.
  
  
• While our Vienna office uses green electricity, this is not yet the case in Berlin. Raising awareness and reinforcing action across the company is essential.

Positive developments should also be acknowledged. Our provision of annual public transport tickets and the excellent connectivity of our offices result in relatively low emissions in this area. Additionally, our offices have implemented measures to establish more sustainable practices (e.g., waste reduction and separation, mindful heating and air conditioning management).

180.400 kg carbon emissions offset	Jan 2023 - Dez 2023 analysis period	2 offset projects

Additional Tips for Reducing CO2 Emissions in the Office:

Scope 1 & 2

• Encourage colleagues to use heating and air conditioning mindfully (e.g., turn off devices when windows are open).
• Completely shut down devices like laptops when not in use, as standby mode still consumes power.
• Use energy-saving modes and sleep modes for devices like printers.
  

Scope 3

• Reduce the number of running devices. Use long-lasting products with replaceable parts and allocate IT equipment based on role and actual usage.
• Promote good data management practices.
• Encourage mindful business travel. Is the trip necessary? What is the optimal route and the most sustainable mode of transportation?

Compensation

Despite ongoing measures, we still produce (too much) CO2 emissions, which is why we’ve chosen to support two projects to offset these emissions:

Microloans for Solar Lamps and Water Filters in India

This is a project that compensates for approximately 406.846 t CO2 emissions annually  - byrd contributes with financing 90.200 kg

This project aims to establish new supply chains in remote regions of India by providing microloans for solar lamps and water filters, particularly benefiting women in these areas. This initiative improves living conditions and reduces reliance on fossil fuels, offering a dual benefit of emission compensation and social contribution to regional development.

Supported SDGs:

• No Poverty
• Clean Water and Sanitation
• Affordable and Clean Energy
• Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Climate Action

As an e-commerce fulfillment company, we understand the importance of reliable and sustainable supply chains. Supporting this project helps us reduce CO2 emissions while promoting economic independence and access to essential resources for disadvantaged communities, aligning with our values of ecological and social responsibility. At the same time we can do a little part in supporting women empowerment and entrepreneurship in this area.

More information about the project

emPOWERing – Promoting A Just Transition to Renewable Energy in Africa

This is a project that compensates for approximately 446.777 t CO2 emissions annually  - byrd contributes with financing 90.200 kg

This project supports various solar and wind energy initiatives across Africa, including:

• Solar energy in Ambatolampy, Madagascar
• Solar energy in Omaheke, Namibia
• Solar energy in Aswan, Egypt
• Wind energy in Northern Cape, South Africa
• Wind energy in Ombepo, Namibia
  

Supported SDGs:

• Affordable and Clean Energy
• Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Climate Action

By supporting the emPOWERing project, we aim to contribute to the global energy transition and help create sustainable jobs. For a European fulfillment company like ours, it is crucial that the global supply chain is based on sustainability and responsibility. Investing in renewable energy projects not only aids in reducing CO2 emissions but also supports economic stability and development in various African regions.

More information about the project

Our Outlook

As an innovative company aiming to revolutionize the fulfillment industry, sustainability must be a key pillar of our strategy. We are aware of this responsibility and continuously strive to improve our climate footprint. This project, where we offset our company’s emissions and office consumption, is just one of many steps toward making a positive impact.

Moreover, the operational sector holds significant potential for emission reduction. Our vision is to make the fulfillment process as climate-friendly as possible. We offer e-commerce companies access to “green” shipping options, consciously reduce plastic in packaging, and already provide 100% recyclable packaging material in Germany. Additionally, we actively support our customers in minimizing returns.

Our business model naturally contributes to sustainable practices in e-commerce. Through our fulfillment center network with warehouses in all major European markets, we enable merchants to store their products as close as possible to online shoppers, drastically shortening shipping routes that typically have a significant impact on the climate.

However, we understand that there is still a long way to go in optimizing all areas for climate-friendliness. We are committed to working step-by-step to improve internal processes and make conscious decisions regarding our partners.
 tickets for public transportation.

Sustainability and corporate responsibility are byrd’s core building blocks since day one, and moving towards reducing and avoiding carbon emissions of our corporate activities is a natural step forward.
- Alexander Leichter, CEO of byrd