UK retailers deliver on green goals

A number of British supermarkets have met their environmental pledges well ahead of schedule. The announcement, made by the British Retail Consortium, comes nearly a month before the crucial climate change conference in Copenhagen.

Retailers such as Asda, Marks & Spencer, John Lewis, Tesco, The Co-operative and Waitrose are all among the high-achievers, which have recorded a 130,000 tonne reduction in the amount of waste sent to landfill in 2008 compared with 2005.

This has largely been achieved through a range of initiatives such as higher recycling rates and converting organic waste to bio-gas and fertiliser through anaerobic digestion.

Retailers have also exceeded a target to reduce their energy use in buildings by 15% between 2005-2006 and 2008-2009 on a like-for-like basis. This has been achieved through a variety of methods including designing stores that are up to 70% more efficient and using low-carbon energy, such as wind and solar power.

The BRC published the results last week in its A Better Retailing Climate Progress Report 2009.

Jane Parkinson, 16.11.2009