JD to invest $150m in green technology

JD Logistics, the logistics arm of the country's second-largest e-commerce player JD.com Inc, announced decision to invest 1 billion yuan ($151 million) to establish a green fund, in a bid to promote the use of sustainable, greener packaging materials throughout the supply chain.

JD will work with international logistics giants such as DHL, La poste, Yamato, SF Express, consumer products conglomerate Nestle, Danone, and environmental protection organizations to carry out the Green Stream Initiative.

Wang Zhenhui, CEO of JD Logistics, said: "The fund is just a start and the money will be used in the overhauling of the infrastructure of JD Logisitics, the improvement in packaging material, the innovation in finance supply chain services, and for research and application of big data in supply chain."

JD expects to reduce the number of boxes used throughout the supply chain by 10 billion by 2020.

It also expects that 80 percent of packaging materials will be recyclable, with over 50 percent of plastic packages replaced by biodegradable material and 100 percent of logistics packaging materials to be composed of recyclable or reusable materials, JD said in an ealier statement.

In June, it began operating its first fleet of clean energy delivery trucks in Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu – becoming the first domestic logistics player to employ large-scale green delivery vehicles.