FK Distribution to contribute to the green transition at Deutsche Post

FK Distribution has developed a packing and production technology, which the German postal service will be using in its efforts for a more environmentally friendly future. This article was originally published in business supplement Finans. The Danish version can be downloaded here.

The German logistics giant Deutsche Post has the ambition to make the door-to-door distribution of leaflets more sustainable. To that end, the German postal service recently entered into a three-year agreement with FK Distribution, the largest privately owned distribution company in Denmark, which has developed a greener type of packaging for leaflets. From 1 July 2021, FK Distribution will be packing leaflets for over half a million German households in Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state in Germany. The agreement has just been concluded following a successful trial period for 143,000 households in the city of Flensburg on behalf of Deutsche Post.

“Deutsche Post has been wanting to replace the foil-covered wrapping with a more sustainable form of packaging for quite some time, and FK Distribution therefore developed a paper banderole for the German market. We have some of Europe’s most advanced packaging lines for last-mile distribution. That means we have the technology, the skills, and the capacity to pack the leaflets in Denmark and drive the packs to northern Germany, where Deutsche Post will undertake the distribution,” says Lasse Ingemann Brodt who is the CEO of FK Distribution. Flensburg and Schleswig-Holstein constitute only a tiny fraction of the German market, but according to Ingemann Brodt, it represents a huge step on the path towards the green transition. “The new packaging has been very well received by consumers in northern Germany, and Deutsche Post is so satisfied that the decision has been made to introduce it in the longer term as the standard used in the distribution of leaflets to the rest of Germany as well,” says Ingemann Brodt. It is still unclear how and when this will happen. Currently, the Danish company has the capacity to pack leaflets for nearly two million households. Geographically, that would suffice for the area from the Danish border to, and including, Hamburg.

It is not only the Danish partner that is excited. Deutsche Post is also looking forward to collaborating with the innovative Danish distribution company: “FK Distribution has a unique technology and is well ahead in developing environmentally friendly packaging. We are pleased to have found a strong partner that enables us to eliminate the foil-covered plastic which we currently use to pack our leaflets. We have great confidence that they can help us take on a social responsibility in relation to sustainability, the environment and climate,” explains Torsten Grüske who is the Vice President of Deutsche Post.

FK Distribution is behind the NoAds+ scheme which allows Danish consumers to select specifically the leaflets that are relevant to them. “At the moment, we’re assisting Deutsche Post in eliminating the plastic packaging from its leaflets. That is where we’re at right now, but we’re also exploring the possibilities of exporting other green solutions, such as the NoAds+ product which is a strong green solution for leaflet distribution,” explains Ingemann Brodt. The Danish distribution business does not currently collaborate with other international partners but does not exclude the prospect of doing that in the longer term.