Musgrave, one of Ireland’s largest business truck fleet operators, has announced the roll out of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) fuel across its network of almost 500 vehicles. By 2030, half of the Musgrave fleet will operate on alternative fuel, with an overall ambition for the entire fleet to be net zero by 2040.
HVO is a completely fossil-free biofuel made from waste, by-products and derived products not intended for human consumption from the food industry; it can be used to power diesel vehicles and provides up to 90% reduction in greenhouse emissions per litre of fuel used.
Musgrave will use one million litres of HVO in 2023 across its fleet and plans to use three million litres of HVO by 2025. By 2030, 50% of its entire fleet will operate on alternative fuel, making Musgrave one of the largest users of HVO in Ireland.
Musgrave has also recently invested over €17 million upgrading its fleet of trucks to the most fuel-efficient & lowest emission (Euro6) standard, further reducing their footprint.
Musgrave’s fleet of vehicles travel over 35 million kilometres a year and complete over 20,000 deliveries across the island of Ireland each week. As Ireland’s largest retail, wholesale and Foodservice business, the business operates a Central Distribution network that enables it to consolidate deliveries in the most fuel-efficient manner.
Musgrave has also reduced its mileage by 15.7 million kilometres per annum by reducing supplier deliveries through backhaul; this allows Musgrave vehicles to collect goods from suppliers on their return from customer delivery journeys. It also utilises double deck trailers across the network to increase efficiency.
Reducing fleet emissions is central to Musgrave’s Sustainability Strategy, Protecting the Planet and Benefitting Communities; investing in HVO, fleet efficiency and other carbon reduction measures will help the business to realise this ambition of reaching net zero by 2040;
Speaking about Musgrave’s transport emission targets, Musgrave Chief Supply Chain Officer, Luke Hanlon said: “Sustainability is at the heart of our business and all that we do; reducing the carbon footprint of our transport network is a major part of this. We are determined to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our fleet by 50% by 2030 which will pave the way to achieving net zero by 2040.”
“We will use one million litres of HVO fuel in 2023 and plan to use three million by the end of 2025; we have also trialled a range of biofuels in recent years in an effort to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.
We see our progress on carbon emission reductions in transport being driven by investing in our fleet; moving to alternative fuels; and enabled by exceptional colleagues that deliver to our customers 20,000 times a week”.
In addition to HVO, Musgrave will install over 10,000 solar panels in 2023 across its Distribution Centres and other locations, with plans to offset over 1,000 tonnes of CO2 annually; by 2025 it is anticipated that up to 20% of the Distribution Centres energy requirements will be provided by solar power.
Last year, Musgrave announced a first of its kind €25m Sustainability Fund. The Fund is helping to achieve a carbon reduction of 12% across SuperValu and Centra stores by end of 2024. The 12% carbon reduction is equivalent to removing over 10,000 tonnes of carbon or planting 380,380 trees across the island of Ireland or powering 5,054 homes.
Other recent highlights in packaging and energy include:
- 96% of all our fruit and veg, own brand, and in-store packaging in SuperValu and Centra is now recyclable, reusable, or compostable.
- Over 90% of our stores now are equipped with LED lighting.
