A greener fleet
Following the merger of Shanks and Van Gansewinkel (VGG) in 2017, the creation of Renewi allowed us to develop an overarching group strategy centred around delivering synergies that will not only enable sustainable growth but also support our commitment to preserving the planet. Fundamental to the direct synergies we have committed to deliver is waste collection truck route optimisation, which will significantly reduce our environmental footprint. The route optimisation process will involve the integration of the current Shanks and VGG routes to new Renewi routes.
At the time of the merger, we identified significant areas of logistics overlap between the two businesses, principally in the Randstad area of the Netherlands, where we identified opportunities to reduce our fleet size and hence our environmental impact.
Harm Muller, Integration Project Leader in our Commercial Netherlands Division, says: "Before the merger, a team of specialists investigated the possible synergies coming out of the union. Key among these was rationalising the trucks the two companies ran every day to hundreds of customers in the same parts of the Netherlands. They both had trucks on the roads, driving on the same streets to the same villages and cities. Once we optimise and integrate the routes, each route will be served by only one Renewi truck."
The expectation is that 22 trucks will no longer have to drive on these routes, delivering a saving of over 837,000km in mileage and over 420,000 litres of fuel. By reducing the number of trucks on the roads, we will also be helping to make the communities where we work quieter, cleaner, safer places to live.
In addition to doing things more efficiently with route optimisation, we are also investing significantly in replacing older vehicles with new vehicles, making our truck fleet more sustainable with less emissions.
We have been through a significant period of change since our merger with the launch of a complex integration programme across the Benelux. The integration involves much more than the delivery of cost synergies: by reducing the size of our fleet, the number of kilometres our vehicles cover and the amount of fuel we use, we are significantly reducing our carbon emissions and our impact on the environment.
