The Co-op Switches All of its Stores to Renewable Electricity

The Co-operative Group has announced that all of its stores (3,000+) and its headquarters are now powered by renewable electricity.

The company has developed a 16 megawatt wind-farm in conjunction with Scottish Power in Oxfordshire. In addition, the company has covered its headquarters building in Manchester with solar panels and installed 19 mini-wind turbines at another site in the city.

Asda sets zero landfill target

Asda announced on July 25 that it will stop sending waste from its 307 stores to landfill by the end of 2010. The waste the company generates will now be reused, recycled or composted.

The company is also reviewing its own brand packaging and has set a target of reducing the weight of packaging by at least 10% over the next 18 months.

David Cheesewright, chief operating officer at ASDA said:

"We're determined to stop sending stuff from our stores to landfill sites. We also want to help our customers reduce the amount of rubbish they throw away each week.

"We will recycle, reuse or compost all of the waste we produce, and will cut our packaging by at least ten per cent. It's a massive commitment that's set to have a huge impact on the environment.

Following the building of new regional service centres Asda already recycles 140,000 tonnes of cardboard, which represents 8% of the UK cardboard market.

The full press release can be seen at:

www.asda-press.co.uk/pressrelease/35

Buy On-Line and Save the World

Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) have launched a campaign called “Go Green – Go Online”. The aim of the campaign is to highlight the environmental benefits of buying on-line.

The IMRG is an industry body that promotes excellence and innovation in e-retail.

According to the environmental benefits of using e-retail include:

1 – Less vehicle miles

2 – Less inventory

3 – Less printed materials

4 – Less packaging

5 – Less waste

6 – Dematerialisation (supplying goods in digital only formats)

The organisation notes that “Now that 10% of all retail sales are online, internet shopping is beginning to make a significant contribution towards Britain achieving its carbon trading objectives. And the more we all shop online, the more efficient it becomes.”

The report goes on to describe various research findings including:

Research indicates that internet shopping may use 40% to 90% less fuel than when customers drive their cars to the shops.

Researchers have reported customer mileage savings of 75%-95% where food-shopping trips are replaced by deliveries to their home.

The full press release from IMRG can be downloaded from:

www.imrg.org/Default.aspx?language=en-GB

Homebase helps Thames Water beat the drought

Retail company Homebase is working with Thames Water to help the public reduce water demand in the South East. 100,000 free “Save-A-Flush” packs will be distributed to householders through 30 Homebase stores.

Details of the Save-A-Flush scheme can be found at:

http://waterwise.fortune-cookie.com/general/save-a-flush/

Sainsbury’s publishes latest CSR Report

On June 28^th 2006 Sainsbury’s published their 2006 Corporate Social Responsibility Report.

The highlights from the report in terms of Resource Efficiency include:

Energy Efficiency

- The company has committed to reducing their carbon emissions by 5% by 2008 when compared to a baseline year of 2004/05. This is on the back of reductions in energy usage of over 20% since 1997/98

- 10% of the electricity used by the company comes from renewable sources

- Road miles were reduced by almost 5%

- Sainsbury’s signed up to the Carbon Disclosure Project

Recycling

- Waste sent to landfill by Sainsbury’s fell by almost 10% from 2004/05 to 2005/06

- Sainsbury’s aim to reduce waste sent to landfill by a further 10% by 2010 compared to a 2004/05 baseline

- The company is aiming to use anaerobic digestion and composting as a means of dealing with their food waste

- The report notes that 35-40% of domestic waste comes from the four main supermarkets

- New recycling banks increased recycling by the public by 13%

- Sainsbury’s launched 40 new salad lines with fully recyclable packaging

- The company reduced the packaging used on their own brand Easter eggs by 40%

- Carrier bag use rose by 2.5% in 2005/06, but this is less than sales growth

The full report can be downloaded from:

www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=20

More details on the Carbon Disclosure Network can be found at:

www.cdproject.net/

Sales of Fairtrade Products Rocket

Data released by the Fairtrade Foundation, on 30 June 2006, shows that the market for Fairtrade products grew by 40% to £195m in 2005. The UK now represents 25% of the total global market for Fairtrade products.

More details on the Fairtrade Foundation can be found at:

www.fairtrade.org.uk

Sainsbury’s publishes latest CSR Report

On June 28^th 2006 Sainsbury’s published their 2006 Corporate Social Responsibility Report.

The full report can be downloaded from: www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=20

The highlights from the report in terms of Resource Efficiency include:

Energy Efficiency

The company has committed to reducing their carbon emissions by 5% by 2008 when compared to a baseline year of 2004/05.

10% of the electricity used by the company comes from renewable sources

Road miles were reduced by almost 5%

Recycling

New recycling banks increased recycling by the public by 13%

Sainsbury’s launched 40 new salad lines with fully recyclable packaging

Marks and Spencer Publishes Latest CSR Report

Marks and Spencer Plc published their third Corporate Social Responsibility Report on 8^th June 2006. The Report is cross referenced with the United Nations Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines.

Environmental Highlights from the Report

· The company generated 9% fewer emissions of carbon dioxide to power its stores and offices when compared to 2002/03.

· 90% of M&S stores have had HCFC gases replaced in their refrigeration systems.

· Packaging for sandwiches was addressed. The cardboard packs for the sandwiches are made from well managed forest sources. The clear film window on the sandwich packs is now made from cornstarch. The company also used around 1,500 tonnes of recycled plastic in drinks and salad packs.

The full Marks and Spencer Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006 can be downloaded from: www2.marksandspencer.com/thecompany/ourcommitmenttosociety/index.shtml

Tesco to deliver goods by rail

Tesco have announced that from August 2006 it will begin to transfer non-food products by rail from Daventry to its main Scottish distribution centre in Livingston.

The total project cost is £3.2 million and two “green” trains that reduce noise and vibration have been imported for the project.

The company estimate that the project will save 4.5 million road miles and around 6000 tonnes of CO2 a year. The first train will leave Daventry for Scotland in August this year. If successful Tesco will look to increase the volume of freight moved in this way and possibly to extend the trial to other areas.
www.tescocorporate.com/pressreleases.htm

Mechanised Recycling system for Tesco

After a successful small-scale trial at six stores (which was funded by the Waste Resources Action Programme) Tesco announced on 2^nd June 2006 that it will be rolling out automated recycling machines to 100 stores around the UK.

The technology used includes infrared spectroscopes and a real-time camera for materials recognition. The waste sorting system, known as a Tomra Recycling Centre, is supplied by a Norwegian company called Tomra. The machines are capable of automatically sorting through plastic, metal and glass at a rate of around 80 products per minute.

After the trials of the machines at six stores Tesco found that recycling levels increased by 50% within 2 months of their installation. The trial stores also found that the interactive machines appealed to children and encouraged them to take part in the recycling process.

Further details of the Tomra system can be found at: www.tomra.com

UK Supermarkets sourcing more organic food from within the UK

The results of the annual Soil Association Supermarket Survey were released in May 2006. The results of the survey show that supermarkets are sourcing more of their organic produce from within the UK.

The Soil Association reports that “Five of the eight main supermarkets now source over three quarters of key staple organic foods within the UK, compared to just two in 2003, a new survey reveals today. On average, supermarket availability of UK, seasonal, organic food staples has risen by 10% - from 72% two years ago when the survey started, to 82% currently.”

The results for individual supermarkets showed that “Waitrose, which has topped the league since the survey started, comes joint first this year alongside Marks & Spencer - with both retailers sourcing 89% of the surveyed organic foods from UK farmers. Sainsbury’s comes in a very close third at 86% UK sourced.”

Full details of the survey can be downloaded from:

www.soilassociation.org/shoppingsurvey

19th June:

Waitrose to sell “ugly” fruit and vegetables at a discount rate

The supermarket chain Waitrose is to begin selling Class 2 fruit and vegetables at a discount to shoppers. Class 2 items would normally be rejected by the supermarkets for failure to meet strict visual appearance standards. Evidence suggests that up to 25% of post harvest fruit and vegetables are currently wasted and often this is for aesthetic reasons.

For more info see the News Archive of www.resource-efficiency.com