Retailers halve waste sent to landfill

17 September 2010

Retailers have halved the amount of waste they send to landfill compared with five years ago.

Less than a quarter of waste produced by retailers is now sent to landfill compared with almost 50 per cent in 2005. This dramatic reduction is one of the results revealed today (Friday) in A Better Retailing Climate Progress Report 2010 published by the British Retail Consortium (BRC). This is an update on the comprehensive set of goals signed by retailers two years ago for reducing the environmental impact of their businesses by 2013.

Retailers have also achieved an 18 per cent reduction between 2005 and 2010 in both:

- Energy-related emissions from buildings

- Carbon dioxide emissions from transporting goods

But to help retailers go further with their environmental goals they need the Government to help them, rather than hinder. Supermarkets, for example, need colleges to train engineers to provide maintenance expertise and to encourage the development of low carbon alternatives to hydro-fluoro-carbon (HFC) refrigeration systems.

The Government must also ensure its localism agenda does not hand too much power to local groups to the detriment of meeting national and international environmental targets.

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.

"There could be benefits from more local decision making. But the Government's localism agenda presents significant challenges to the excellent environmental work being done by retailers. 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."

Notes:

A full copy of the BRC's A Better Retailing Climate Progress Report 2010 is available at:

www.brc.org.uk/downloads/A_Better_Retailing_Climate_Progress_Report_2010.pdf

The On-pack recycling label (OPRL) was launched by the BRC in March 2009 and, for the first time, provides customers with standardised information to replace the, potentially confusing, range of recycling symbols previously used. After less than a year and a half, it is already being used on over 50,000 different product lines.

OPRL is designed to increase recycling rates by telling customers how likely it is that a particular piece of packaging can be recycled where they live.

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