Trucks
Trucks
“We have a ten-year target to reduce our direct emissions by 80%,” says Marcel Niederberger, head of sustainability at V-Zug.
Since 2020, the appliance manufacturer has been forging ahead with its ambitious target. And to help it get there, it has created an internal carbon emissions fund. For every tonne of emissions V-Zug produces, it “punishes” itself with a fine of 120 Swiss Francs (€124). The money raised is put aside to fund new sustainability technologies or solutions, like the Volvo electric truck.
“It all starts with measuring your emissions,” he adds, for those who want to follow suit. “If you don't measure your emissions, you don't know where to start.” For V-Zug, it has been measuring its emissions for ten years, giving it a head start and helping it find where the opportunities are to make the transition.
“We have 13 trucks in our fleet altogether. We started the transformation from diesel two years ago and invested in our first electric truck,” adds Marcel. “Emissions are definitely one of the major targets that we. We aim to be full electric by 2030.”
We have a ten-year target to reduce our direct emissions by 80%
For V-Zug, its goal was always to move into electric transportation, but the tipping point was that it had to work straight away and fit seamlessly into its daily operations. “Now the solutions are available,” says Marcel, reassuringly.
But when it came to the decision to go electric, V-Zug didn’t take a top-down approach.
“It’s not the head of sustainability that has the major voice, but the operational crew,” he says. “Now, with the distances available and the price points behind those kinds of solutions, it made it possible to go in that direction.”
For V-Zug, it’s all about the triple bottom line; people, planet and profit. “That's how we define sustainability,” adds Marcel. “We strive to pursue the dimensions of environment, society and economy with equal priority – the CO2 fund is a great example of that. Money gets put aside from the profit dimension to invest it in people or planet”
As a household appliance manufacturer, the circular economy is extremely important to V-Zug. “One of the first questions we had was ‘what's going to happen with the trucks’ battery packs at the end of their lives’,” says Marcel. “And we were happy to hear that Volvo already thinks in that direction.”
The icing on the cake for V-Zug is not only the fact its drivers love driving the electric trucks but the welcomed boost in its reputation among customers, something Marcel calls “extremely positive”.
