From now on, bol.com's buildings in the Netherlands and Belgium run entirely on green electricity. With 13,000 solar panels on the roof of the new fufilment centre in Waalwijk, bol.com has taken a final step in the transition to renewable energy.
The current fulfilment centre in Waalwijk was already running entirely on local green power from adjacent windmills. Other locations have now also been switched over, meaning that all of bol.com's offices, data centres and warehouses use green power.
12,000 households
The new DC, called BFC2 by bol.com, now has a solar roof with over 13,000 solar panels. Per year, this solar roof generates around 4 gigawatts of energy, equivalent to the annual energy consumption of around 1,200 households. Bol.com will use this green power for, among other things, lifts, lighting, automatic doors and order picking machines, conveyor belts, packing machines and sorting systems, which will soon ensure that half a million parcels a day can pass through the huge mechanised fulfilment centre.
The online giant speaks of an important step towards 0 grams of CO2 emissions per parcel. Vincent Weijers, Director Logistics & Operations at bol.com: "This is an important milestone for making bol.com more sustainable, as energy consumption in our buildings determined a substantial part of our total CO2 emissions."
Products without a box
Earlier, the e-commerce giant took other measures for a greener supply chain. Since this year, it no longer packs 7 million items. Only when it is really necessary is a product provided with a carton. By omitting the recognisable blue box, bol.com expects to save a lot of packaging material. Currently, about 20 percent of bol.com's total CO2 emissions come from packaging.
