Muscat: The Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) has issued guidelines for companies licensed to provide postal services or contracted with them to reduce carbon emissions during packaging, transportation, storage, and other activities.
These guidelines are aimed at achieving goals such as reducing the percentage of waste from postal services operations, preserving natural resources, and achieving financial savings for companies in the long term by following best practices for energy consumption.
Following commitments agreed upon by the Universal Postal Union (IPU) through the decisions issued at the Geneva Conference in 2008 and Abidjan in 2021 and later at the Riyadh Conference in 2023, countries have agreed to intensify efforts to commit to initiatives that urge reducing the environmental impact of postal operations.
These efforts include setting voluntary annual environmental targets incrementally to reduce emissions based on the capabilities and capacities of companies licensed to provide postal services to reach the global target of (-85%) of emissions by 2050.
Some of the measures include converting 100% of the delivery vehicle fleet to zero-emission vehicles by 2035, reducing waste from postal operations by 25% by 2030, reviewing and evaluating the mechanism of purchasing, distribution, use, and consumption of packaging materials and the use of single-use materials (inside and outside the institution) by 2025, reducing water consumption in postal facilities by 25% by 2030 and using clean and renewable energy.
The companies should ensure that an annual percentage is set for converting the means of transportation used in postal delivery operations to modern and environmentally friendly vehicles, and the age of the means of transportation used in postal services does not exceed 10 years, to achieve optimal energy consumption and reduce harmful emission and diversify the means of transportation used and gradually shift to clean means of transportation by using hybrid, electric, or low-energy-consuming means of transportation, such as bicycles.
It also includes imposing obligations on third-party companies providing delivery representatives and their vehicles to ensure the availability of modern, highly efficient, and environmentally friendly vehicles, enhancing the collective transportation of shipments between governorates through coordination with land and air transport companies to reduce the use of small vehicles and intensifying contracts with various local transportation companies (land, air, and sea) to reduce individual transportation of missions across distant states and governorates, using modern technologies for delivery in smart cities through modern means of delivery and delivery such as self-driving vehicles, drones or electric bicycles and re-engineering the path of vehicles used for postal services to ensure that they use the optimal route in terms of energy consumption and reducing harmful emissions.
Other measures include providing multiple service points for pick-up and delivery, such as smart boxes, service centers, and warehouses, to meet the needs of beneficiaries, reducing the use of paper from invoices and receipts, and relying on digital correspondence and notifications, reduce the use of single-use materials and encourage beneficiaries to do the same and reuse packaging boxes and cartons where possible.
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