John Lewis Partnership in the UK Unveils Innovative Plans to Reduce Carbon Emissions

THE John Lewis Partnership, which owns department stores and Waitrose supermarkets in the UK has announced that it is stepping up its commitment to reducing carbon emissions by building a dedicated biomethane gas filling station.

This will enable its largest heavy goods vehicles to use a low-carbon alternative to diesel and in addition, it plans to stop using fossil fuels across its entire 4,800 strong transport fleet by 2030.

The new biomethane gas filling station will be built in conjunction with Air Liquide and will open at the Partnership’s head office in Bracknell in December 2020, making it the business’s first on-site gas filling station.

It will facilitate the conversion of the Bracknell Waitrose fleet to biomethane and complement gas filling stations already in use near to John Lewis and Waitrose regional distribution centres in Leyland, Lancashire, and in Northampton.

Serving some 120 Waitrose heavy goods vehicles, the lorries will run on biomethane made from food waste and food processing waste materials rather than diesel which will reduce CO2 emissions by 80 per cent.

Over the next seven years, it is estimated the Bracknell site alone will save over 70,000 tonnes of CO2, equivalent to the carbon footprint produced by over 13,000 UK households.

Another addition will be the introduction of 1,750 electric vans alongside 750 refrigerated trailers converted from diesel to electric drive.

In addition, the Partnership’s 1,300 strong car fleet will become 100 per cent electric and any remaining vehicles that could not be converted to biomethane or electric will use hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) biodiesel.