Abstract: Pushing clean energy logistics is a key action to achieve net-zero carbon emissions. Nestlé (China) focuses on actions in its supply chain, including green transportation, low-carbon warehousing, digital empowerment and resource sharing and implements a series of transformation measures for sustainable development. The company’s goal is to promote carbon emissions reduction and digital logistics, increase the usage of new energy vehicles, optimize transportation solutions, and develop a digital, smart and ITbased transport sharing system. By coordinating internal and external parties and collaborating with upstream and downstream sectors, the company actively promotes sustainable logistics and copes with climate change.

 
Challenge

Cleaner logistics is one of eight key actions in Nestlé’s 2050 net-zero roadmap. Against a 2018 baseline, Nestlé has committed to reducing freight transport carbon emissions per tonne-kilometer by 11% by 2025 and 35% by 2030. 

In Greater China, transport accounts for approximately 90% of logistics emissions (the primary focus area), with warehousing contributing the remaining 10%. Balancing logistics efficiency with an accelerated shift to low-emission fleets and smart, digital logistics, while driving value chain-wide decarbonization through cross-sector collaboration, defines Nestlé’s core challenge.

Solution

Nestlé Greater China has built a four-pillar sustainable logistics transformation framework. Green transport: Given the range limitations of new energy vehicles (150–200 km), the focus is on urban last-mile delivery electrification. By July 2021, NEV coverage had expanded from 27 cities to 77 (from 20% to 85%), contributing 1,312 tCO₂ of reductions, with 81 cities targeted by year-end for full coverage of all tier-1 cities, aiming for 2,265 tCO₂ reductions. 

The company has also aggressively shifted from road to rail and water, and expanded factory-direct delivery: rail share rose from 10% to 15% (2018–2020), sea freight from 7% to 12%, while road dropped from 82% to 73%; factory-direct delivery grew from 6% to 18%, cumulatively saving 4,767 tCO₂; plastic in logistics was reduced by 22%. 

Low-carbon warehousing: The Wuhan distribution center’s rooftop solar generates 2 million kWh annually (equivalent to 1,580 tCO₂e avoided); the fully automated Eastern distribution center saves 1 million kWh/year via lights-out operations plus 450,000 kWh/year from LED upgrades, and its 430 m³ rainwater harvesting system saves over 1,600 tonnes of tap water annually; 85% of factory warehouses and regional DCs have replaced plastic stretch wrap with reusable cargo straps, eliminating 6 tonnes of plastic. 

Digital enablement: Since 2017, Nestlé has partnered with JD.com on supply chain control towers and with Cainiao on the Supply Chain Brain project; in August 2021, the T-HUB digital transport center went live with real-time visualization of NEV usage and carbon emissions; electronic waybills, automated document stamping, and telescopic conveyor loading/unloading have also been deployed. 

Resource sharing: Nestlé brands jointly tender all logistics resources and collaborate end-to-end with partners including JD.com, Cainiao, and SF Express.

Impact & Value

Quantitative results: Overall logistics emissions fell 4% in 2020 vs. 2018, with cumulative reductions of 8,500 tCO₂ from all measures (modal shift 2,920 t; factory-direct delivery 2,043 t; improved load factors 1,793 t; NEVs 1,744 t). As of July 2021, year-on-year emissions were down 10%, with 6,088 tCO₂ reductions from combined measures. 

Beyond the numbers: Nestlé has built a comprehensive sustainable logistics system, earning recognition as the Low-Carbon Supply Chain Logistics Innovation Excellence Enterprise from LogClub and sharing its approach at forums convened by the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing and the Shanghai Supply Chain Association. Employee environmental awareness and knowledge have risen markedly. 

The dual economic-environmental dividend — direct cost savings from route optimization, load factor improvements, and packaging reduction, combined with lower fossil fuel consumption and waste from NEV adoption and multimodal transport — offers an actionable, systematic blueprint for green logistics transformation across the FMCG sector.