Green logistics: UPS expands Carbon Neutral shipping program

As a follow-up to a sustainability push launched last October, UPS recently announced it is expanding its Carbon Neutral shipping program to 35 countries and territories throughout Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

The UPS Carbon Neutral Program offers shippers the ability to offset the CO2 emissions generated by the transport of packages within certain regions for various services, including UPS Ground Services and UPS Next Day Air, UPS 2ND Day Air, and UPS 3 Day Select Services.

Company officials said that in the U.S. fees range from $0.05 for a ground package and $0.20 for an air package to $0.75 for an international package, and outside of the U.S. a small flat fee will vary slightly by country depending on the type of service selected and origin and destination of the shipment.

With an objective to offer shippers a way to calculate and offset the carbon emissions associated with their shipments, shippers can utilize this program through UPS.com and UPS CampusShip. And UPS said that online retailers that have integrated UPS into their own Web sites can offer customers’ access to UPS Carbon Neutral, too.

When UPS introduced this last fall, it was in the form of a limited pilot to roughly 1 million customers, according to Lynnette McIntire, UPS spokesperson.

“We did it on a limited basis at first to see what type of response we would get,” said McIntire. “Overall, it was very positive and well-accepted by customers that were environmentally aware and care about those issues.

For shippers that want to participate in this program, they need to check off a box during the shipping process at UPS.com or UPS CampusShip (it will be available on UPS WorldShip in January 2011) and the fee is factored into the final price. And in 2010, UPS said it will match offset purchases up to $1 million.

As for next steps, McIntire said the UPS Carbon Neutral Program will be introduced to UPS Stores by the end of the year.

“Our customers wanted a convenient, cost-effective means to address climate change in a real and tangible way,” said Bob Stoffel, the senior vice president responsible for UPS’s sustainability program, in a statement.

UPS said the 35 countries and territories now joining the United States with access to the offering include:  Argentina, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Philippines, South Korea, China and Macau.