A report published today (September 17) by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has revealed that retailers in the UK have managed to halve waste sent to landfill from 48% to 23% since 2005.
The report, which was carried out to monitor the organisation's Better Retailing Climate initiative, a pledge made by retailers to reduce the environmental impact of their business by 2013, found that retailers had met their target to reduce waste to landfill to below 25% by 2013 two years early.
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re-using material;
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finding partners to re-use material;
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recycling;
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using energy recovery technology, such as AD, for organic wastes;
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reducing consumer food and packaging waste;
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and, providing recycling information.
It said that retailers were also trying to help their consumers waste less by providing consumers with information to help them understand 'best before' dates and storage requirements better and offering recipes that help make use of leftovers.
The report noted that retailers have also signalled their commitment to reduce their environmental impact by signing up to the Courtauld Commitment (see letsrecycle.com story) with the majority of large grocery retailers in the UK established as signatories.
Achievements
Stephen Robertson, British Retail Consortium director general, said: “These remarkable achievements by retailers show their commitment to tackling climate change has not wavered, despite the tough trading conditions.
“Retailers have a proud record of delivering impressive environmental results on a voluntary basis – without the need for legislation. This includes helping their customers use 4.6 billion fewer single-use carrier bags between 2006 and 2010, despite major growth in sales.
Mr Robertson said he believed that retailers' environmental agenda sometimes found localism and the subsequent “nimbyism” a challenge.
He explained: “Many climate change objectives are set nationally and internationally but often the opposition to schemes, such as wind farms or energy from waste plants, comes locally.
“We can't let ‘nimbyism' get in the way. A national approach is the best way to help retailers achieve environmental objectives at a local level. The BRC on-pack recycling label, which is increasing local authority recycling rates, is a good example.”
Specific retailers were also singled out for praise in the report. It said Homebase had fitted out 80% of a new store using fixtures and fitting from other stores and John Lewis recycled much of the construction waste from building its new store in Cardiff.
The work of Waitrose, for sending waste from its head office to an EfW facility, Next's in-house recycling centre, and Tesco's claim of diverting of 100% of waste from landfill, were also praised.
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