Grocery industry in Wales strengthens commitment to reduce waste
The Courtauld Commitment is a voluntary agreement established by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) between UK governments and the grocery industry on waste reduction and resource efficiency and already has 29 signatories.
It’s no longer enough to look at the impact of packaging alone – that’s why Courtauld Commitment 2 takes into account the environmental impact of product waste in the supply chain as well as at household level.
Beth Winkley, programme manager of WRAP Cymru
To mark the launch of the second phase of the Commitment, Minister for the Environment, Sustainability and Housing, Jane Davidson, and WRAP Cymru’s programme manager, Beth Winkley, visited The Co-operative food store in Roath to see the measures that are being taken in store to cut down on waste.
A leading Cardiff supermarket today (5 March 2010) joined dozens of retailers and brands across the UK in strengthening its commitment to reduce unnecessary waste. The Co-operative, which has 160 stores across Wales - is one of a number of major retailers to sign up to the second phase of the Courtauld Commitment.
To help tackle the growing problem of household food waste, The Co-operative has printed storage instructions for fruit and vegetables on its loose bags for fresh produce. It has also implemented a number of packaging optimisation initiatives, from reducing the weight of its own brand wine bottles and a selection of salad dressing bottles to removing the shrink wrap from whole cucumbers and transferring table sauces from glass to plastic bottles.
Courtauld Commitment 2 moves away from solely weight-based targets and aims to achieve more sustainable use of resources over the entire lifecycle of products, throughout the whole supply chain. Using 2009 data and working to a 2012 deadline, the three new targets are:
- Packaging – to reduce the weight, increase recycling rates and increase the recycled content of all grocery packaging, as appropriate. Through these measures the aim is to reduce the carbon impact of this grocery packaging by 10%
- Household food and waste – to reduce UK household food and drink wastes by 4%
- Supply chain product and packaging waste – to reduce traditional grocery product and packaging waste in the grocery supply chain by 5% - this includes both solid and liquid wastes.
The announcement of the new targets follows the original Courtauld Commitment which was launched in 2005. As well as stopping growth in packaging despite increases in both sales and population in the UK, some 500,000 tonnes less packaging was used over the period has also been achieved over the period 2005 - 2009 – that’s enough waste to fill a queue of refuse trucks, bumper-to-bumper, stretching from Anglesey to Haverfordwest – and back again.
Beth Winkley, programme manager of WRAP Cymru, said: “One of the biggest challenges society faces over the next decade is reducing the environmental impact of the things we buy. This new agreement will bring about changes ranging from more efficient methods of production right through to the impact of household consumption.
“We’re thrilled that so many signatories – old and new - have already committed to this new agreement, and we hope that many more will soon follow their example.”
Minister for the Environment, Sustainability and Housing, Jane Davidson, said: “The Welsh Assembly Government is determined to take decisive action to minimise the environmental impact of packaging and reduce waste but we cannot make a real difference unless retailers and consumers across Wales give us their full support.
“I am delighted to be launching the second phase of the Courtauld Commitment here in Wales and to see for myself the lengths to which some retailers are going to meet their environmental goals.
“As The Co-operative has proved, realising improvements in resource efficiency not only reduces the impact that retailers have on the environment but also provides potential for real cost savings for signatories.
“I am pleased to give Courtauld my full backing and encourage businesses across the Welsh food retail and manufacturing sectors to sign up, enabling us to move forward and make a real difference together.”
Peter Marks, Co-operative Group chief executive, said:
"The Co-operative is pleased to support WRAP in their ambitions to deliver these new targets which encompass environmental benefits beyond simple packaging weight reduction. We have already demonstrated through our Co-operative Watch Your Waste events, along with simple ideas like printing storage instructions on loose produce bags, how a retailer is able to empower customers to tackle the problem of household food waste."
The 28 founding signatories are:
- AG Barr
- Alliance Boots
- Apetito
- Arla Foods
- Asda
- Britvic
- Constellation Europe
- The Co-operative Group
- Dairy Crest
- Danone Dairies
- Danone Water
- Fosters EMEA
- HJ Heinz
- Innocent Soft Drinks
- Mars (UK)
- Molson Coors
- Morrisons
- Muller Dairies
- Musgraves
- Nestle
- Northern Foods
- Robert Wisemans
- Sainsbury’s
- Tesco
- Unilever
- Vimto
- Waitrose
- Warburtons
- Weetabix
