The number of parcel lockers has already been increased so that inhabitants are always able to pick up their parcels in their neighbourhood. Since last year letter and parcel deliveries in the city centre have been made using 20 bikes with trailer and in the next phase all mail rounds in the city will be completely emission-free. As such, Sint-Niklaas will become an Ecozone later this year.

More parcel lockers

Eight new parcel locker locations were added to the Sint-Niklaas pick-up point network in January, all with guaranteed zero-emission deliveries and collections. The existing pick-up points are made up of a balanced blend of post offices, parcel lockers and partnerships with local traders. Opening pick-up points at locations that lots of people pass through enables customers to pick up their parcels closer to their home or work. The most environmentally friendly way to do this is walking or taking the bike.

Zero-emission parcel and letter deliveries are already made using 20 bikes with trailer and eight electric vehicles. ​

Sven Van den Driessche, Mail Centre Manager Sint-Niklaas:

• ​“All delivery staff in the centre of Sint-Niklaas ride with an electric bike trailer. That means we are able to deliver letters and parcels sustainably. ​ We only use vans for very large parcels, but we want to switch to electric cars for those too. That can be done in the short term. In fact, we want to eliminate all petrol and diesel vehicles.”

Ecozone by the end of the year

When the new high-voltage cabinet is taken into use this year, the full capacity of 74 charging points will be in use. By then, the rest of Sint-Niklaas and the suburbs Nieuwkerken-Waas, Belsele and Sinaai will switch to zero-emission deliveries in several waves. That will result in Sint-Niklaas, postcode area 9100, becoming a full-fledged Ecozone. Specifically, bpost and the City of Sint-Niklaas are committed to:

providing a dense network of 27 pick-up points so that inhabitants can have their parcels delivered in one place for pick-up on foot or by bike;
ensuring zero-emission across all 56 mail rounds using bikes with trailers or electric cars.
This means that, by the end of this year, all 60,000 inhabitants will receive their parcels in an eco-friendly way.

Zero-emission deliveries are fully in line with the sustainability policy pursued by bpost, which aims to become a reference in the industry. Its green fleet significantly reduces carbon and fine particle emissions associated with delivery of letters and parcels. In doing so, bpost contributes to improving air quality for the inhabitants of Sint-Niklaas.

Carl Hanssens, Alderman for Mobility: “We are delighted that bpost is working in a sustainable way to send and receive parcels in our city. By using electric vans, bikes with trailers and a large number of pick-up points, bpost is helping to shape the sustainable future of Sint-Niklaas by limiting the number of vehicles and kilometres per vehicle in the city centre.”

bpost is constantly looking for sustainable delivery methods to reduce its ecological footprint. In Sint-Niklaas Flanders will this year have a new Ecozone that follows the example set by Leuven and Mechelen. By 2025 another 25 Belgian city centres will adopt this concept, as zero-emission deliveries become the norm.

Some figures for Sint-Niklaas city centre and Nieuwkerken-Waas:

• 20 bikes with trailers
• 8 electric vehicles (28 later this year)
• 11 charging stations (74 later this year)
• 27 pick-up points (1 post office, 7 post points, 5 parcel points, 14 parcel locker locations)

Source: bpost