Fashion retailer Inditex partners with Maersk to reduce its emissions from maritime transport

Photo: Inditex

Inditex, one of the world’s largest fashion retailers and parent company of fashion brands such as Zara and Massimo Dutti, has partnered with the freight group Maersk to reduce its global greenhouse-gas (GHG) footprint from seaborne logistics by incorporating alternative fuels in all its inbound routes with the carrier.

Through its Eco Delivery Ocean program, Maersk replaces fossil fuels on its ships with green fuels like green methanol or second-generation biodiesel based on waste feedstocks.

This is expected to deliver an estimated reduction of more than 80 percent in GHG emissions per liter compared to conventional sources.

With Eco Delivery Ocean, Maersk offers its customers the opportunity to handle transports completely with certified green fuels for a fixed cost.

The corresponding GHG savings are confirmed to the customers with an externally verified certificate and these transports will be exempted from EU Emissions Trading System charges by Maersk in the future.

“This collaboration is a great example of how boosting innovative solutions with dedicated partners is key to fighting climate change,” said Abel Lopez, head of import, export and transport at Inditex. “Through this joint initiative with Maersk, we are making significant strides in reducing emissions associated with our sea freight. This project aligns with our goal to reach net-zero emissions in 2040 and contributes to scale alternative fuels with a significantly reduced carbon footprint.”

Emilio de la Cruz, the managing director of the Southwest Europe region for Maersk, added, “We are proud to have Inditex among our first customers who assign 100 percent of their Maersk ocean inbound cargo to our Eco Delivery product, which ensures a significant reduction of GHG emissions thanks to green fuels. We know Inditex … as a very responsibly and sustainably thinking partner and customer and going all the way on their ocean cargo is good news for the environment and climate.”

Right now, Maersk experiences that the demand for low-carbon Eco Delivery products is high and very dynamic.

“A lot of customers are asking us for a solution to reduce their scope 3 emissions, and the first customers are buying this premium solution for their whole cargo under Maersk bill of lading now,” de la Cruz said. “We are happy to serve this demand with Eco Delivery on an instant basis.”

Like Inditex, Maersk has the ambitious climate target to become a net-zero company across all business areas until 2040.

Besides using Eco Delivery for all its ocean cargo under Maersk care, Inditex is also boosting multimodal transport and is collaborating in a new rail-solution pilot of Maersk, Renfe and Cepsa in southern Spain, which was launched this summer.

“These close collaborations are essential in order to deliver on our ambitious, mutual decarbonization goals,” Inditex stated.