ESG
Cainiao is committed to leading and advocating for the green development of the logistics industry in China. In 2016, the company launched the Cainiao Green Logistics Project in collaboration with other leading Chinese express delivery companies to promote the industry’s green transformation. This is by far the largest environmental protection initiative co-launched by the logistics companies in China.
Initiated by Cainiao, Alibaba Foundation and China Environmental Protection Foundation, the Cainiao Green Alliance Foundation, China’s first charity foundation specifically focused on alleviating the logistics industry’s environmental impact, was launched in March 2017. With a view to promoting a greener future for the logistics industry, the foundation was co-sponsored by a number of express delivery companies, including ZTO Express, YTO Express, Best Express and Yunda Express.
Over the past four years, China has seen a significant improvement in its green logistics development. Cainiao is collaborating with partners to promote the full-chain green transformation of the entire logistics industry, from upstream to downstream, from order placement to parcel delivery and box recycling, making tens of billions of express parcels environmentally-friendly. This was made possible by a variety of initiatives including e-shipping labels, packing algorithms, smart route planning, environmentally- friendly bags, recycling boxes, recycling stations, new energy logistics vehicles and solar-powered logistics parks.
Quick facts:
Paper Saved
400 billion+
Cainiao e-shipping labels saved 400 billion pieces of paper in six years
Cost saving for the industry
20 billion+
cutting out RMB20 billion in costs for the entire industry
equivalent to reducing carbon emissions by
1billion kilograms +
Cainiao e-shipping labels
100 billion
Since their launch in 2014, Cainiao e-shipping labels have been applied on more than 100 billion express parcels
In 2019, Cainiao worked with express delivery companies to halve the size of the e-shipping labels, making them more environmentally friendly.
Cut down packing materials
530 billion
Cainiao Binpacking cut down packing materials for 530 million parcels within a year
By optimizing carton box design and recommending suitable packing solutions, Cainiao Binpacking, a smart packing algorithm, addresses the problem of excess packaging. Cainiao Binpacking contributes to a 15% reduction in packing materials, on average, and was applied to 530 million parcels from Cainiao warehouses last year. This technology has now been promoted across the entire logistics industry.
Cainiao recycling stations cover
315 cities
31 provinces
Collaborating with express delivery companies, Cainiao set up recycling stations at Cainiao Posts and domestic express delivery stations as part of the Cainiao Carton Recycling Campaign. This initiative aims to encourage the sorting, recycling and reuse of express delivery carton boxes and to foster waste sorting and recycling habits among consumers. To date, Cainiao recycling stations have covered 315 cities in 31 provinces across China. Over the past year, Cainiao added around 20,000 recycling stations at endpoint facilities. It is estimated that more than 100 million express delivery carton boxes can be recycled and reused through Cainiao recycling stations.
*Data as of October 31, 2021
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