MJD, road hauliers to blue-chip companies including Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP), has announced a total transition to a Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) drop-in biofuel called GD+ across all its haulage operations from February 2022. The fuel will be used with immediate effect in MJD’s existing diesel engine trucks, with no modifications required, and will cut carbon emissions by 17,000 metric tonnes of CO2e per year.
The switch is the result of a programme run by CCEP to encourage its third-party partners to transition to lower carbon solutions. Amongst these, having serviced the soft drinks company for over three decades, MJD is CCEP’s longest-serving logistics provider.
CCEP led a 12-month collaboration between MJD, and Green Biofuels (GBF), the UK’s main providers of HVO biofuel. Following a trial of the drop-in fuel, MJD signed a deal for six million litres per annum of GD+ from GBF. MJD will completely switch out diesel in all of its logistics and haulage operations at no additional CapEx cost, not only cutting emissions from trucks during transportation but also improving local air quality during the loading and delivery of goods at depots.
Commenting on the news, Magnus Hammick, COO of GBF, said: “After looking into a number of other options, CCEP and MJD have found a here and now solution in GD+. To achieve 2050 climate goals, decarbonisation has to start now using existing new technologies like GD+ which does not require any hardware changes to achieve 85 per cent emissions reductions. We are proud to be supporting companies like CCEP and MJD to meet their Science-Based Targets by providing tried and tested alternatives to diesel.”
Javier Sanchez Gandarias, vice president, customer service and supply chain at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (GB), said: “We know that it is only by working in partnership across our supply chain that we can make a meaningful impact in tackling climate change. We have set ourselves the target of reducing emissions across our value chain by 30 per cent by 2030 and this initiative forms an important part of achieving this aim.
“The transition to more environmentally-friendly haulage systems like GD+ HVO forms an important part of our ‘This is Forward’ sustainability strategy and our overall ambition to reach net-zero by 2040, and we will continue to work with our suppliers to find new ways to make a difference.”
MJD’s managing director, Stephen Dole, said: “We are a long-established family business who have always had a sustainable future at the very heart of our business model. The switch to GD+ HVO ensures that we are able to take a significant step towards our goal of being truly carbon neutral.”
