Hellmann Worldwide Logistics said it is entering into a pioneering partnership with shipzero — an accredited data platform developed to calculate, analyze and optimize the carbon footprint of logistics activities — with the aim of making road transport more sustainable.

The cooperation builds on a pilot project that has been running successfully since April of this year.

"As part of the cooperation, shipzero supports the entire data management process and determines the CO₂ emissions for Hellmann's global road business," the announcement said.

It added that in doing so, shipzero also includes primary data from external logistics partners in the calculation, thus ensuring that the CO₂ measurements are not based on extrapolations and average values — as has been customary in the market to date – but on actual consumption data.

To determine precise emission values, data is exchanged between Hellmann and its transport partners via the shipzero platform so that precise Scope 3 emissions are collected per customer, shipment and route section.

These are then integrated into the calculation of the corporate carbon footprint, external audits and sustainability reports, thus supporting compliance with new regulatory requirements that will come into effect in 2024.

Hellman said the data-based processing and analysis of transport data enables it to identify specific decarbonization projects within the supply chain and implement them together with its partners.

"In today's world, sustainability is a key issue, and legal regulations also demand transparency in supply chains. Hellmann was one of the first major logistics service providers to take up this challenge and is using shipzero's innovative technology to create precise, shipment-related CO₂ emission calculations for road transport based on primary data. This enables us not only to respond to customer requirements and regulatory specifications but also to optimize our supply chains and reduce CO₂ emissions in road transport on the basis of the newly gained data transparency," said Jens Wollesen, chief operating officer of Hellmann Worldwide Logistics. 

Wollesen noted that the more primary data is available, the more precise the calculation will be.

"That is why we are currently in very close dialogue with our external transport service providers to integrate them into this pioneering project," the Hellmann chief executive added.

Tobias Bohnhoff, managing director of shipzero, noted that the goal of the German-based company is to create in-depth transparency and decision-making capability for Hellmann regarding its decarbonization process – and to do so in accordance with reliable international standards.

"We are currently building a consistent database and infrastructure for this," he said.