BigMile helping Meelunie take big steps
Data-driven insights into multimodal transportation emissions
BY Meelunie 15/11/2024
Multimodal challenge
“Since 2020, we’ve been calculating our carbon emissions from sea freight, which are part of our Scope 3 emissions,” explains Jeroen de Waaij, Meelunie’s Global Sustainability Manager. “Then in 2022 we decided to partner with BigMile to give our customers even better insights into the total carbon emissions of their shipments.”
The partnership extends Meelunie’s calculations beyond sea freight to include all modalities, including pre- and on-carriage emissions. Moreover, all data is fully certified. By using BigMile’s SaaS platform, Meelunie can optimise and report carbon emissions associated with multimodal transportation, integrating this data directly into its ERP system. This allows for detailed internal reporting of emissions per customer order or trade lane, as well as enabling the creation of carbon statements for customers.
GLEC Framework
The BigMile carbon calculations follow the GLEC (Global Logistics Emissions Council) Framework, a methodology aligned with the GHG Protocol. This sector-specific framework was set up by a coalition of over 150 organisations led by Smart Freight Centre and including major sector players such as Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd. The framework ensures Meelunie’s logistics-related emissions are measured and reported across all transport modes and in accordance with global standards, as BigMile is also verified against ISO 14083, the official worldwide standard for calculating and allocating emissions.
Identifying carbon hotspots
Armed with the data-driven insights from BigMile’s platform, Meelunie can identify carbon hotspots along its supply chain and design customised solutions to reduce emissions. “Since most of these emissions are generated by our carriers and transportation companies, we’ll be discussing with them how together we can improve data quality and achieve lower emissions in our joint supply chain” says Jeroen. “Collaboration is key here. We believe strongly that it’s more effective to set up projects to address carbon emissions within our chain together with our partners than going it alone.”
A good example of an initiative by Meelunie to reduce its emissions is fuel switching with CarbonLeap, whereby fossil fuels are replaced by biofuels. This can lower emissions by some 80-90%.