Port of Liverpool owner Peel Ports says the freight and logistics industry can slash carbon emissions over the next few years if it starts using its Liverpool2 facility.The £300m Liverpool2 deep water terminal will be equipped to handle most of the world’s biggest ships when it opens towards the end of the years.
Peel believes the port can revolutionise the logistics market in the UK by persuading the cargo industry to bring goods in through Liverpool rather than the South of England ports.
At the Multimodal 2015 event, being held this week in Birmingham, Peel launched its Cargo200 campaign with the aim of reducing UK freight road mileage by 200m miles over the next five years.The company aims to recruit up to 200 cargo owners, importers and exporters to support the campaign.
It claims that cargo owners, importers and exporters to cut the cost of inland transportation by switching current delivery of ocean freight to the Port of Liverpool,If goods start or end their journey in the north of the UK, it claims, cargo owners can save up to £400 per container by altering supply chain routes.
Peel Ports’ group commercial director, Patrick Walters, said: “This initiative is about efficiency and sustainability. We have looked at the geographical demand for goods in the UK, comparing the point of entry of those goods into the country with the end destination and calculating the carbon emissions and potential savings.
“The reality is that 50% of demand for all UK cargo comes from the northern half of the UK, including Scotland and Ireland – not really surprising as 35m people, including many in Ireland, live within 150 miles of Liverpool.
“The Port of Liverpool is strategically important as the most centrally located port in the UK. Yet only 8% of goods arrive in the UK through this route.
“That means the majority of cargo destined for the north currently has to be transported via road or rail, incurring hundreds of additional miles, burning fuel, creating road congestion and adding to carbon emissions and costs.”
