Scottish Wholesale Association chief calls for government support to reduce wholesale emissions

Scottish Wholesale Association (SWA) chief executive Colin Smith has called on the Scottish government to support wholesalers to decarbonise the industry.

Smith’s message comes on the back of SWA’s report titled “Decarbonisation of the Wholesale Industry” project which highlighted that 75 per cent of the sector’s fleet emissions are from heavy good vehicles (HGVs) – versus 17 per cent from vans, equating to 111,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. 

“These newly-available figures shine a spotlight on the barriers and challenges facing food and drink wholesalers – the ‘wheels to the food and drink industry’ – as they seek ways to reduce their carbon footprint,” said Smith.

“The will is there but our members need more support from the Scottish government to get there.

“We need the Scottish government to provide financial support for wholesalers to implement, a wholesale industry-wide driver efficiency training programme to reduce emissions,” Smith said.

The SWA study focuses on emissions from vehicles and fleets used with the Scottish food and drink wholesale industry.

With the prohibitive cost of new vehicles and adaptation and lack of fuelling infrastructure to seriously consider a switch to hydrogen, Smith said that Scottish government needs to step in.

The SWA is also asking for wider financial support from government to set up a wholesale fleet audit service, enable the transition to green fleets, and for research that will help identify further routes to efficiencies with the wholesale sector.

Earlier this year, SWA joined forces with Arcola Energy to identify the business case for fuel cell technology in the UK’s transition to zero-emission road freight.

“Our plans to decarbonise the wholesale food supply chain and achieve net-zero emissions by 2045, if not before, are ambitious but as we have heard during the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow – countries, governments and businesses must be bold in their approach.