Green Retail UK

Business Waste - A top priority

2008-11-18T14:55:00.001Z

www.letsrecycle.com reports that the new waste and recycling Minister, Jane Kennedy, will make tackling business waste a top priority.

The 2007 North West Commercial & Industrial Waste Survey - shows that the retail sector already has a recycling rate of above 50%. This is because a lot of retail waste is homogeneous packaging. Survey evidence also suggests that an increasing number of retailers are taking their waste back to service depots on delivery vehicles.

British Retail Consortium calls for lower VAT on green goods

2008-11-18T14:01:00.000Z

The Retail Bulletin reports that the BRC is lobbying the European Union for lower VAT charges on green goods. This would cover items such as light-bulbs, boilers, insulation etc.

CO-OP supports Manchester Congestion Charge

2008-11-18T13:57:00.000Z

The Manchester Evening News reports that the CO-OP has become one of the latest businesses to back the Manchester Congestion Charge zone.

The proposed project would involve £3bn investment in transport infrastructure in Greater Manchester.

Charge for holiday brochures

2008-11-17T21:30:00.000Z

Retail Bulletin reports that holiday firm i-to-i is planning to introduce charges for its brochures. The company has put all brochures on-line and will offer a bespoke printing service for those wanting paper brochures.

In 2007 our team surveyed several travel agents as part of the Chester/Bolton/Oldham retail recycling study. In all but one case brochures were being sent back for disposal at the end of each season.

The report above notes that i-to-i printed 19.4 million pages of brochures last year - so any initiative to reduce that number is to be applauded.

Battery Facts

2008-11-17T21:21:00.001Z

We are about to publish a new report on batteries and recycling on the Resource Efficiency KTN website. Several retailers have already started battery recycling collections as a result of the upcoming EU Batteries Directive. Here are a few facts on batteries in the UK:

The UK currently only collects 3 to 4% of batteries for recycling (Austria collects over 60%)
670 million portable batteries were sold in the UK in 2007
40% of UK battery sales occur between October and Christmas Day
Sales of rechargeable batteries are growing at 10% a year
Around 22,000 tonnes of portable batteries are sent to landfill every year in the UK
The energy needed to make a battery is 50 times greater than the energy they give out

Batteries Directive - WRAP Trials

2008-11-17T11:54:00.000Z

WRAP have published the results of their various battery collection trials. The UK currently collects around 3% of portable batteries for recycling. To meet the EU Battery Directive targets we will need to collect 25% by 2012 and 45% by 2016 - so a long way to go.

The WRAP collection trials looked at the following collection methods for batteries:

Kerbside collection
Retail take back
Community drop off
Postal

The results show that on average 7.9 batteries per household were collected from kerbside schemes. Postal collection produced 2.9 batteries per household and the other options produced around 1 battery per household.

In the Belgian BEBAT battery collection scheme schools are an important collection route with 25% of batteries being collected through this route. The Dutch battery collection scheme also collects large volumes through schools - with incentives for kids that participate. There have even been cases of parents complaining because their children have taken perfectly good batteries out of the remote control to get the free battery collection t-shirts. However, the WRAP trials did not look at school collection in the UK.

The Belgian BEBAT experience suggests that the UK can get to 25% battery collection in a short space of time. Belgian collection rates went from 9% to 26% in the first year of operation for BEBAT.

New Retail Lighting Guide

2008-09-12T15:26:00.000+01:00

The Carbon Trust has published a new guide on reducing display lighting costs in the retail sector. The document is entitled "Display lighting - Creating maximum impact with minimal energy consumption".

The guide shows that retailers could cut their display lighting usage by up to 30% by adopting the latest energy saving technology.

In addition, as LED lighting advances the potential savings will be greater.

The guide can be downloaded from: www.carbontrust.co.uk

Is this the end for free plastic bags?

2008-02-28T15:08:00.000Z

Marks & Spencer has announced that it will charge 5p for plastic carrier bags at their stores nationwide http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7268283.stm This follows on from a series of trial schemes at M&S stores where the bag charge has been introduced.

Many of the major retail companies signed up “to adopt a shared objective with the government and WRAP to reduce the environmental impact of carrier bags by 25% by 2008”. Other retailers have tried to meet this target by changing the materials bags are made from, offering bags for life and giving loyalty card points for reusing bags. If this new initiative has a similar impact to the plastic bag tax in Ireland it will significantly reduce the number of bags that M&S uses – possibly by around 90%.

Experience from the Republic of Ireland shows that their Plastic Bag Tax did have a dramatic reduction in the number of plastic bags used per person – bag usage fell from 328 bags per person prior to the tax to 21 bags after the tax. However, opponents claim that the number of plastic sacks purchased for refuse disposal has increased since the tax was introduced.

The indications are that M&S will achieve a large cut in plastic bag use – especially in their food areas. It will be interesting to see if the other major grocery retailers follow suit.

What percentage of the waste stream is made up of plastic bags?

In overall household waste management and disposal terms plastic bags are largely irrelevant as they only represent a very small percentage of the overall waste stream. However, they are a problem as litter. Visit any landfill site after rough weather and you will see trees and hedgerows littered with plastic bags for miles around.

A waste analysis of household waste in Cheshire in 2000 showed that around 2.8% of the waste in the area was made up of plastic film - (www.cheshire.gov.uk/waste/Downloads/Household_Waste_Composition.htm). Plastic bags would only make up a fraction of the total amount of plastic film.

The Scottish Parliament examined the possibility of introducing a plastic bag levy of 10p per bag. However, after studying various Life Cycle Assessments for plastic bags it was decided that a voluntary code with retailers to reduce the impact of plastic would be the best way forward. Similar codes are used in Australia and New Zealand.

One interesting option is the Danish system where the plastic bag levy is paid be the retailer for each bag they distribute. This system provides a clear incentive to retailers to reduce the number of bags they give out.

You can read more about policy responses to the issue of plastic bags in the ‘Bioplastics –Degradable, Renewable, Compostable’ report, which is available on the Resource Efficiency Knowledge Transfer Network at www.resource-efficiency.org

Question: Why are retailers (and politicians) interested in the environment?

2008-02-13T15:03:00.001Z

Answer: Because the general public are.

Over the last couple of years an increasing number of retailers have, depending upon your point of view, been introducing sustainable development programmes or jumping on the green bandwagon.

One of the things that may have caused an increased interest in environmental issues is an increased interest from the general public in these areas. The graph below shows the results from the monthly Ipsos MORI poll of political attitudes in the UK. Each month Ipsos MORI asks as a part of its political survey:

• What would you say is the most important issue facing Britain today?
• What do you see as other important issues facing Britain today?

The graph shows the percentage of respondents who have rated Pollution and Environment as the most important issue each month since October 1988. The late 1980s saw the peak of public environmental concern. For one month in July 1989 ‘Pollution and Environment’ was rated as the most important issue facing the UK (35% rated it as the most important issue – the next highest was the NHS on 29%). This surge of environmental interest probably contributed to why I decided to take a degree Environmental Science in 1991.

The importance of the issue rapidly fell away and the issue never scored above 10% from late 1991 to 1997. This brings us to the increased interest in 2007. In January 2007 19% of those surveyed rated the environment as the most important issue. There was a clear spike of interest around this point and over the course of 2007 the environment scored a higher average importance rating than for any year since the peak of interest in the late 1980s and early 90s.

Environmental Retail Event

2007-10-09T09:52:00.000+01:00

Urban Mines and the Resource Efficiency Knowledge Transfer Network are holding an event on Resource Efficiency & Sustainability in the Retail Sector on Monday 12th November at The Source at Meadowhall, Sheffield.
Over the last year Urban Mines has been working with the Resource Efficiency Knowledge Transfer Network (RE-KTN) on an environmental programme to engage with retail companies. As part of the retail project Urban Mines is joining with the RE-KTN to hold an event on environmental, waste and CSR issues within the retail sector.
The event will be held at The Source at Meadowhall, Sheffield on 12th November 2007. The confirmed organisations speaking at the event include: Boots, National Federation of Women’s Institutes, The Mall, Kent Business School, University of Surrey and Inetec (the waste technology company).
For more information please contact Julie Tiffany or Dan Clayton on 01274 699400 or see www.urbanmines.org.uk

Sustainable Retail Seminar

2007-09-10T14:39:00.000+01:00

A seminar entitled "In pursuit of sustainable consumption – insights from the analysis of Tesco Clubcard data" will be held at the University of Surrey on 18th September at 1pm. The seminar is being presented by Andrew Fearne.

Enquiries to Wendy Day, RESOLVE Co-ordinator, 01483 686689

Draw

2007-09-05T09:20:00.000+01:00

The results of our poll asking "Which is the greenest supermarket?" are in and the result is a draw. Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Other all scored one vote.

Innovation in Services Consultation

2007-08-23T15:32:00.000+01:00

DBERR (Department for Bussiness, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) has launched a consultation on 'Innovation in Services'. The press release states that

"This is a high profile cross-government project, reporting to BERR ministers Spring 2008 to: A) deepen understanding of innovation in service sectors; and B) assess what practical actions Government should take to stimulate and support service sector innovation. The project is business led focussing on retail, logistics, construction and environmental services."

Responses from the retail sector are particularly welcome. The deadline for responses is 31st August. More details can be found at: Link

EnviroMall Week

2007-08-23T15:19:00.000+01:00

This week is EnviroMall Week (18th to 25th August). The initiative aims to encourage shoppers to make a pledge to help combat climate change – The target is 1 million pledges!

EnviroMall is run by the Mall company, which operates a number of town centre shopping malls around the UK. Project partners include the Carbon Trust and Envirowise.

More information can be found at: www.enviromall.co.uk

CIWM - Sustainable Retailer of the Year

2007-08-23T15:08:00.000+01:00

The Chartered Institute of Waste Management (CIWM) has included an award for Sustainable Retailer of the Year in its annual Awards for Environmental Excellence. The aim of the award is to "promote and celebrate sustainability excellence within retailers, from large chain stores to small independent outlets.

Entries can include:
- Changes to products sold
- Changes to the sourcing of products
- The sustainability of the production and transport of goods
- The environmental impact of the products used in the management of the store
- The reduction in waste produced and increase in materials recycled
- The influence of the store on the purchasing decisions of consumers
- The impact on the local community
- The global warming impact of the store

The deadline for submissions is 31st August.
More information can be found at www.ciwmawards.com

Small is Beautiful – Retail and the New Waste Strategy

2007-05-30T13:35:00.000+01:00

The new Waste Strategy is out and it has several sections that cover the retail sector. Defra has noted that the retail & wholesale sector generates more waste than any other commercial and industrial sector and has made retail a ‘Priority Sector’. The key retail initiatives in the document are:

- Extension of the Courtauld Commitment to non-food retailers
- Agreement on a retailer commitment to reduce the environmental impact of carrier bags by 25% by 2008
- Development of a materials ‘decision support tool’ for packaging

It could be argued that smaller retail businesses have been largely missed out of the Strategy. Obviously tackling the largest retail groups gets the biggest immediate results, but there are a huge number of small and medium sized retail businesses that are being left behind. For example my local corner shop, butcher and greengrocer all give out plastic bags as well as the major supermarkets. The Courauld Commitment has currently been signed by 13 major grocery retailers, however, data from the Office of National Statistics shows that there are around 180,000 retail businesses in the UK.

A large number of smaller retailers are now covered by complex waste legislation such as the WEEE Directive and the Animal By-Product Regulations. Support on resource efficiency and legal compliance with waste issues is crucial for these smaller retailers. For example, the recent survey on retail waste in the North West (funded by the North West Development Agency and the Resource Efficiency Knowledge Transfer Network) found that around 15% of the retail businesses surveyed were breaking the Duty of Care regulations.

To create a green revolution across the whole of the retail sector will require support for small retail businesses as well as for the major supermarkets.

New Retail Reports

2007-05-29T14:47:00.000+01:00

I have just posted three new retail reports on the Resource Efficiency Network web portal. The reports cover the following:

- A Survey of On-line Environmental Reporting by Major UK Retail Chains
- A Review of Waste Generated by the Retail Sector
- Resource Efficiency Initiatives at the Major Supermarket Chains

These can be obtained from www.resource-efficiency.org

Low Levels of Environmental Reporting at Some Major Retail Groups

2007-04-27T15:20:00.000+01:00

Recently I have been looking at how the major UK retail companies report their environmental programmes and initiatives on-line. I have attached a graph which shows the assessment of the information provided based on seven categories,

An Environmental or CSR report
Energy Usage
Waste & Recycling information
Transport data
Water Usage
Sustainable Procurement
Future Environmental Targets

For each of the seven categories the retailers could score a maximum of three points based on whether they provided limited, medium or extensive information on each topic.

The graph shows that the grocery sector received the highest marks. Clothing, home & furniture and general retailers all obtained low marks and the discount grocery and drink / off-licence retail groups did not provide any environmental information at all.

Further down in the data all categories of retailer scored particularly low marks for providing information on water usage.

The full report will be available shortly from the Resource Efficiency – Knowledge Transfer Network website (www.resource-efficiency.org)

Environmental Impact of Carrier Bags

2007-02-08T14:52:00.000Z

Most of the major supermarket chains now have carrier bags that have recycled content material or degradable material. For example Tesco's bags are degradable and Sainsbury's carriers have 33% recycled content. But which is the best environmental option? This is a huge issue as around NINE BILLION free carrier bags are given out by UK retailers each year!

In their latest CSR report, Waitrose express concerns that many of the degradable bags will end up in landfill as the UK does not have enough capacity to recycle them all.

I have posted a note on this on the Retail Themes page of the Resource Efficiency - Knowledge Transfer Network. This can be accessed for free at: www.resource-efficiency.org

When will green be the new black for fashion?

2007-02-01T20:16:00.000Z

Since the New Year the 'Green Wars' between the major food retailers have gathered pace. Marks & Spencer is going carbon neutral, Tesco is showing carbon emissions for thousands of products and Sainsbury's are completing the national roll-out of their recycled content shopping bags.

But what about the clothing sector - the Green Retail Revolution seems to have largely passed them by. True M&S have introduced organic and Fairtrade shirts and Next has a successful scheme to encourage the recycling and re-use of clothes hangers.

But no national clothing retailer is putting the environmental impact of the stores at the forefront of their business - not in the same way that some of the food retailers are attempting to do.

The amount of packaging used would be a good start. A few weeks ago I bought a new shirt from a department store and the amount of packaging was excessive. The packaging with the shirt included:

- A thin plastic film sleeve
- Thicker plastic film inside the collar
- A cardboard insert inside the shirt
- High density plastic clips holding the sleeves to shirt
- High density plastic cuff links to hold the cuffs together
- A thin sheet of paper wrapped around the cardboard insert

Five or possibly six different packaging material types on one product.

As M&S introduce more green initiatives across their product range it will surely put pressure on other clothing retailers to follow suit. It is to be expected that the green programmes at Tesco and Asda will eventually impact on their clothing ranges as well.

If you see a new environmental initiative in the clothing retail sector please let us know by adding a comment to this post.

Shopping with the car

2007-01-29T11:57:00.000Z

When you go to the shops do you walk, use public transport or use the car? A new report from the RAC Foundation and the British Retail Consortium shows that around 30% of the trips that we undertake each year are for shopping or related activities.

The report shows that each UK resident makes around 200 shopping trips a year. Of these trips 63% are made by car with only 25% made on foot.

The authors use this information and other statistics on shopping and transport to make a series of recommendations on the future of retail and transport policy. The key recommendations from the report are:

· A long term vision is essential for a town’s vitality

· Cars can’t be wished away, so they must be planned for

· Parking is a service not a source of revenue – and should be used creatively

· Planning needs to reflect the reality of how people live

A full copy of the report can be downloaded from: www.racfoundation.org/

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

2006-11-06T14:25:00.000Z

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

2006-11-06T14:12:00.000Z

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

2006-11-06T14:07:00.000Z

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

2006-11-06T13:59:00.000Z

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

2006-11-06T13:51:00.000Z

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

2006-11-06T13:34:00.000Z

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

2006-11-06T12:10:00.000Z

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

2006-11-06T12:05:00.000Z

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

2006-11-06T12:03:00.000Z

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

2006-11-06T12:01:00.000Z

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

2006-11-06T10:37:00.000Z

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

2006-11-06T10:34:00.000Z

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

A new environmental guide for retailers from the United Nations Environment Programme

2006-09-26T14:38:00.000+01:00

The United Nations Environment Programme – has published an environmental toolkit for retailers. The toolkit, which is entitled ‘Greening Shops and Saving Costs – A Practical Guide for Retailers’, consists of a guide book and CD-Rom giving practical advice on environmental initiatives.

Areas covered within the guidebook include:

Linking production and consumption

Environmental Impacts of retail operations

Implementing Environmental Management Systems in retail outlets

Establishing a Green Supply Chain programmes

Communicating sustainability campaigns

Green advertising

The guide and CD-Rom content can be downloaded from:

www.uneptie.org/pc/retail/publications.htm

A printed version of the manual is available from the UNEP. The contact is – Solange Montillaud-Joyel – e-mail sc@unep.fr

The UNEP have also made available a gallery of good examples of communicating sustainability issues from around the world – see

www.unep.fr/pc/sustain/advertising/ads.htm

New National Consumer Council report on "Greening Supermarkets"

2006-09-24T14:47:00.000+01:00

This week (20^th September) the National Consumer Council published a report assessing the environmental performance of the UK’s major supermarket groups.

The report uses a rating system similar to the energy efficiency rating scheme for electrical appliances. Waitrose came out top in the survey with an overall rating of B. The lowest rated performers were Morrisons and Somerfield, who both achieved an ‘E’ rating.

An expanded story on this survey can be seen at www.resource-efficiency.org

The full report can be downloaded from www.ncc.org.uk/responsibleconsumption/greening-supermarkets.pdf

Welcome

2006-09-22T15:21:00.000+01:00

Welcome to Green Retail. The aim of this blog is to bring the latest news on the environmental issues surrounding the retail sector.