DHL Parcel opened a new parcel sorting centre in Amsterdam Westpoort on Thursday. The site features a sorting facility from Vanderlande with a capacity of 12,000 parcels per hour.
The construction and fit-out involve an investment totalling over 35 million euros. The newly built sorting centre replaces the current location at the same business park. With this, DHL Parcel is realising a capacity expansion to support the growth of the parcel market.
BREEAM Excellent
In terms of sustainability, the building meets the BREEAM Excellent standard for sustainable buildings. This includes 4,700 solar panels on the roof, which provide 80 per cent of the required electricity. There are also extensive facilities for charging electric trucks and delivery vans.
The building was developed by WDP and built by Aan de Stegge Twello. The sorting centre accommodates around 250 employees.
Importance of European parcel network increases
The Amsterdam site is one of 15 sorting centres in the Netherlands, which together with six centres in Belgium form a Benelux-wide network. Together with similar networks in the main European countries, this forms a unified European parcel network.
"With the growth of cross-border e-commerce traffic, the importance of a broad and well-functioning, transparent and affordable European parcel network is noticeably increasing. The Netherlands is a crucial link in that network, serving as a model for the rest of Europe," said Achim Dünnwald, chairman of the management board of DHL Parcel.
