Diageo’s green move with Zeus in new HVO trial

Beverage firm Diageo has partnered with freight management company Zeus to begin Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) fuel trials in the UK.

The appointment will see Zeus handle over a third of Diageo’s UK bottle to recycling plant distributions.

Diageo expects this to save the company around 1,800,000 kg of CO2e per year, equivalent to the amount of carbon sequestered by 2,147 acres of US forests in a single year.

The London-headquartered premium drinks Group owns a portfolio of over 200 well-known brands across 180 countries worldwide, inclduing Guinness. Under this new trial, Zeus will initially handle 50 trucks per week fuelled by HVO across 14 major UK transport routes, with plans to expand operations into Europe in early 2024.

HVO fuel is a fossil-free, renewable, and sustainable alternative, almost indistinguishable from regular diesel, and can deliver up to a 90 per cent reduction in carbon equivalent emissions compared to traditional diesel.

In 2022, Zeus launched Freight Connect, a fully managed, low-carbon multimodal solution, combining its proprietary technology with clean HGVs fuelled with HVO, electric powered rail freight and emission reporting backed by the Global Logistics Emissions Council (GLEC).

In the last year alone, Zeus says it has seen a 400 per cent growth in demand for its sustainable freight solutions, significantly slashing greenhouse gas emissions for leading FMCG companies by over 80 per cent.