Apotea and PostNord in unique partnership for emission-free deliveries
Fast, cheap and free shipping. That’s the promise from Apotea, Sweden’s largest online pharmacy. Together with PostNord, the company is showing that high delivery performance and reduced carbon footprint can go hand in hand.
Apotea has long set the standard in Swedish e-commerce, combining speed, low prices, and sustainability. Now, its partnership with PostNord has taken the next step, with PostNord managing all outbound transports from Apotea’s logistics center in Morgongåva. With new charging infrastructure in both Morgongåva and at PostNord’s Veddesta terminal, electric trucks operate around the clock enabling emission-free, electrifying a larger share of the transport chain than ever before.
“Our ambition has always been to make fast deliveries compatible with sustainability. Together with PostNord, we can now show that it’s possible and scale it up across Sweden,” says Yasmina Djedou, Head of Last Mile and Delivery Experience at Apotea.
A logistics hub built for sustainability
Just outside Uppsala, Apotea’s 38,000-square-meter logistics center in Morgongåva handles many millions of deliveries every year. Sustainability is at the core of the company’s operations, exemplified by a facility certified for low energy use and a rooftop hosting one of Sweden’s largest solar panel systems. And through the collaboration with PostNord and its fleet of electric trucks, a growing share of these deliveries is now completely emission-free.
The new setup with PostNord marks an important shift. Previously, Apotea already used electric trucks for transports between Morgongåva and Stockholm, while the mid-mile between terminals ran on biofuel (HVO). With the new solution, both the first and mid-mile are now operated by PostNord’s electric fleet, creating a fully fossil-free transport chain from warehouse to terminal. The last mile remains unchanged and is still handled by PostNord and other delivery partners in the same way as before.
PostNord also manages return flows back to the terminal and to Morgongåva, creating a circular logistics model that maximizes capacity, reduces kilometers driven, and boosts both cost and climate efficiency.
Customer-focused collaboration
While both PostNord and Apotea have come a long way in the green transition, there are still challenges ahead. For the transition to succeed, consumers need to understand their alternatives yet terms like “fossil free” and “emission free” are often used interchangeably, creating confusion.
“Customers want to make climate-smart choices, but the terminology can be confusing,” says Yasmina. “Our goal is to make those choices simple and accessible. When the sustainable option becomes the easy one, that’s when real change happens.”
The future of delivery is already here
To cut emissions even further, Apotea is testing deliveries with small electric robots. These vehicles travel from shared pickup points and bring parcels straight to people’s homes. It’s a great example of how technology can solve challenges in last-mile deliveries, which is the final and often most complex stage of a delivery.
“The last mile is often the most expensive and polluting part a delivery. There’s huge potential to collaborate and innovate,” says Yasmina.
At the same time, customer habits are evolving, and the future of last-mile deliveries is still taking shape. More people, for instance, want all their parcels delivered at once rather than in multiple trips.
“Sustainable logistics isn’t something that lies ten years ahead. We’re building it now – and the results show that high service levels can go hand in hand with a low climate footprint.”
