Failed deliveries drive up CO₂ emissions
Consumers want to receive parcels on Monday or Friday, but they arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Amsterdam – In 2025, sixteen million unnecessary kilometres were driven due to failed parcel delivery attempts. This is evident from the Parcel Radar (Pakketradar) by logistics SaaS platform Wuunder. Following a failed delivery attempt at the door last year, 3.3 per cent of consumer shipments—a total of 16,302,000 parcels—were taken to a collection point. In the final quarter of 2025, this percentage peaked at 4.1 per cent, resulting in the highest number of unnecessary kilometres driven.
These failed delivery attempts have not only led to extra logistics kilometres but also to a significant increase in the number of trips consumers make to collection points. For 3 per cent of shipments in the first, second, and third quarters, a delivery to a collection point followed a failed attempt at home. This figure rose by 37.3 per cent in the fourth quarter compared to the rest of 2025. The consequence: 5.27 million extra polluting car journeys in 2025, as consumers used their cars to pick up their parcels.
The number of trips to collection points is highest on Tuesdays—94.7 per cent higher than the average on other weekdays. Consumers prefer to receive a parcel on Monday (19.9%) or Friday (35.1%). This does not correspond with the days on which most deliveries actually take place, namely Tuesday (23.6%) and Wednesday (20.4%).
Other reasons parcels could not be successfully delivered on the first attempt include immediate returns and address errors, accounting for 0.5 per cent of cases. While this percentage may seem low at first glance, it resulted in as many as 2.52 million parcels having to be resent. This percentage was also higher in the final quarter of 2025 compared to other quarters, sitting at 0.59 per cent. This represents a rise of 22.9 per cent compared to the first three quarters of 2025.
Resending these parcels is not only environmentally damaging but also costs retailers around €28 million annually in shipping, return, and penalty costs.
Jeroen Gehlen, co-founder of Wuunder: “Inefficiencies in parcel delivery not only cause delays that disadvantage the consumer but also have a negative impact on the environment. The sixteen million unnecessary kilometres caused by the rise in failed deliveries show that we can—and must—make enormous strides forward. Consumers prefer deliveries on Mondays or Fridays. By better aligning this preference with the delivery process, we relieve the pressure on couriers, reduce the number of extra trips to collection points, and directly lower CO₂ emissions. Not only does the consumer benefit, but so do the carrier and the environment. With a small adjustment in the checkout, major gains for all parties are within reach.”
The data is based on orders at Wuunder and concerns domestic shipments in the Netherlands. The data is not based on returns and only concerns B2C shipments.