DHL Opens its Largest and Greenest Logistics Center in the Netherlands

Sustainable sorting facility will serve growing e-commerce market in Europe

DHL Parcel opened the largest and greenest parcel sorting center for the Benelux in Zaltbommel, the Netherlands, on 10 October.

The sustainable logistics center, which covers 30,000 m2 or an area the size of 15 football pitches, will process up to half a million packages per day that can be sorted to 240 locations. These include the 140 DHL depots and 21 sorting centers in the Benelux and destinations in all European countries.

Expanding service

The opening was performed by Ken Allen, Member of the Board of the DPDHL Group and Wouter van Benten, CEO of DHL Parcel Benelux.

Van Benten: “We are investing to facilitate our growth, but also to expand our service level. Digitization plays an important role in this. Moreover, the new installations help to make our processes more sustainable.”

E-commerce growth

The new center supports DHL’s double-digit volume growth driven by e-commerce (online shopping) and the business market, the company says.

The construction involves an investment of 84 million euros, DHL’s largest investment in the Netherlands to date. The company has 15 sorting centers across the Netherlands including a hub in Amsterdam, which opened in 2018, making it a key player in the Dutch logistics ecosystem.

Sustainable logistics

At the DHL Parcel Hub Zaltbommel, as the name is officially, the CO2 footprint of the processes is reduced by efficient and modern equipment. With 11,000 solar panels, geothermal energy, rainwater use and an ecological garden of 4,000 m2, the building meets the BREEAM Excellent standard for sustainable buildings.

The new facility was built by Hercuton. The sorting installation was made by Vanderlande Industries.

The DHL Parcel Hub Zaltbommel will employ 350 people. This is an extension of the existing number of 7,000 DHL Parcel jobs in the Benelux.

Source: DHL (Dutch)

10 October 2019