Health and beauty retailer AS Watson ramps up sustainability efforts in its global supply chain

AS Watson reports that it is transitioning its delivery fleet to electric vehicles and launching initiatives in waste reduction.

Malina Ngai, Group CEO at AS Watson, says: "As a responsible global retailer, sustainability is at the heart of our business. We've been investing and innovating to reduce our environmental impact and contribute to a more sustainable future.”

“Our latest initiative focuses on making the delivery fleet of our supply chain more environmentally friendly. We operate 12 retail brands in our global portfolio, and 60% of them have started using electric vehicles for some of the warehouse-to-store and online order deliveries.”

“While the adoption of electric vehicles is slow in the industry, I believe that we should take on the challenge to launch this initiative in as many markets as possible.”

Ngai adds: “Electric vehicles have limited driving range per charge, and insufficient charging infrastructure, which makes long-haul deliveries challenging. Additionally, the current technology solutions to reduce charging times and enhance overall performance are not yet widely available.”

“These constraints result in difficulties for some of our operating markets to broadly deploy electric vehicles. We remain committed to overcoming these obstacles and transitioning our delivery fleet to more sustainable electric options wherever possible.”

At Watsons China, electric vehicles now account for over 80% of all warehouse-to-store deliveries on average in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Chongqing and Xiamen.

For online order deliveries, Superdrug, Savers and ICI PARIS XL have started using electric vans and e-Cargo bikes in Central London and 13 emission free zones in the Netherlands respectively.

Additionally, Watsons China, Singapore and Taiwan have introduced electric vans and motorbikes for their country-wide online order deliveries.

Meanwhile, Superdrug, Savers, Kruidvat and Trekpleister have also started to shift towards using greener fuels such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG), which generate less carbon emissions compared to traditional diesel fuel.

In addition to the electrification of its delivery fleet, AS Watson lays claim to significant progress in waste reduction in its supply chain globally, diverting over 95% of warehouse waste from landfills.

It has also reduced the use of virgin plastics in its online business packaging by 50% year-on-year.

Ngai says: “We will continue our journey towards supply chain sustainability. We expect to see increasing adoption of electric vehicles and the introduction of more waste reduction initiatives to help create a more sustainable world.”

“Sustainability is not a slogan for us, but a culture that every one of our 130,000 colleagues globally embrace every day. Only by working together, we can create a truly significant impact on the planet.”