Weastflows was an Interreg IVB North West Europe (NWE) project funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). It aims to encourage a shift towards greener freight transport in North West Europe.
This €9 million project was part-funded by the Interreg IVB NWE programme and involves 22 partners and 19 observers from countries including France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the UK and China.
Weastflows was funded by Interreg IVB NWE (North West Europe) which is a financial instrument of the European Union’s Cohesion Policy. Interreg is 50% financed through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the remaining 50% is provided by the project partners.
Efficient and sustainable freight transport is essential to help deliver economic, social and environmental benefits to communities and businesses. Weastflows aims to improve and enhance freight logistics in North West Europe (NWE) and encourage a move from an over reliance on road haulage to the more sustainable modes of rail, short-sea shipping and river transportation.
The project aimed to encourage a move towards more sustainable freight transport to address congestion issues while reducing the environmental impact.
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The Project has now ended.
As Part of SEStran’s contribution a number of studies were carried out:
Freight Supply and Demand Analysis
SEStran undertook a study to monitor the movements of freight in the North East / West Europe region. This was split in 62 separate regions with 14 external additional zones . Trip matrices were produced for road, rail, inland waterways and maritime in terms of both tonnes and tonnes/kilometres.
The matrices were then analysed to monitor key “congested” corridors and to examine options for moving away from road-based freight towards sustainable modes. The results were analysed and verified by the partners within the WEASTflows project, and the data used to produce graphical maps.
This document can be viewed here
Greening Logistics: Sustainable Best Practices
This document was prepared in partnership with TRI (Napier University). It investigates the diverse range of options that must be assessed to move freight as sustainably as possible. The document examines in depth, the various improvements that can be made to existing road-based transport including; vehicle upgrades, use of technology, driver training and consolidation. It also highlights the possibility of using more sustainable modes (e.g. rail) where possible and alternative fuels. The aim of the document is to provide an array of options for the road based transporter to consider and to encourage ‘green’ logistics.
This document can be viewed here.
Creation of Network of Sustainable Logistics Chains
Throughout the WEASTflows project, SEStran liaised with a number of freight forwarders and logistics companies. This document provides a list of everyone that SEStran had been in contact with, without disclosing personal information. The list was aimed at enabling anyone moving freight, to be aware of all the existing options within the UK and to ensure that all companies providing forwarding options were considered.
This document can be viewed here
Sustainable Logistics: Best Practice Guidelines
Following the Green Logistics document that was created by TRI, SEStran developed and significantly shortened this document into a ‘checklist’ for both logistics operators and purchasers. It provides an easy grid-style guide on moving freight as sustainably as possible by considering all the options currently available.
The document provided useful case studies and to ensure that freight may be moved as sustainably as possible. Ideally, the document will encourage freight operators/purchasers to use more sustainable modes than road transport. However where these are not a viable option, the document suggests upgrades to make road-based freight become more sustainable.