Sustainability Report 2009 - The Co-operative

Waste and packaging
Indicators
Waste disposed
Waste reused/recycled
Targets 2009
Extend the consolidation of waste management contracts
across The Co-operative to further improve accounting
systems for general and recycled waste streams (page 69).
Maintain less than 50% of total waste arisings being sent
to landfill from The Co-operative Food (pages 72 and 73).
Develop further projects to support the reduction in
The Co-operative Food’s own-brand packaging by 15%
by 2010 (page 70).
Continue to increase the amount of waste recycled through
the Manchester recycling centre (page 72).
Reduce total waste arisings and maintain a 70% reuse/
recycling rate across CFS’ main offices (page 73).
Deliver 40 ‘Love Food, Hate Waste’ events during 2009 to
support a reduction in household food waste (page 71).
Progress brochure recycling from The Co-operative
Travel (page 73).
Increase the amount of cardboard and polythene recycled
by The Co-operative Food (page 72).
target achieved
on track
Targets 2010
close to target
behind schedule
target not
achieved
• Extend the consolidation of waste management contracts
across The Co-operative to further improve accounting
systems for general and recycled waste streams.
• Maintain less than 50% of total waste arisings being sent
to landfill from The Co-operative Food.
• Reduce the carbon impact of The Co-operative Food’s
packaging by 10% by 2012, compared with 2009 1 .
• Reduce total waste arisings and maintain a 70% reuse/
recycling rate across CFS’ main offices, excluding the
former Britannia estate.
• Increase the amount of cardboard and polythene recycled
by The Co-operative Food.
Background
Each year, the UK produces an estimated 70 million tonnes of
Commercial and Industrial (C&I) waste 2 . The retail sector is the
largest contributor, generating some 13 million tonnes 3 . In addition,
the sector contributes 5.2 million tonnes 4 of packaging waste to the
35 million tonnes of municipal waste generated annually 5 .
In 2009, waste disposal costs continued to rise, due to decreasing
landfill capacity and the application of the landfill tax escalator,
which has increased the cost of landfill tax by £3 per tonne each
year between 1999 and 2008. Following the rise in the escalator
to £8 per tonne per year from April 2008, the landfill tax increased
to £40 per tonne as of April 2009 6 .
There is a growing public awareness of, and activity around,
waste and packaging issues, evident in the increase in municipal
recycling in England from 35% to 38% and the reduction in
municipal waste sent to landfill by 1.2 million tonnes between the
years 2007/08 and 2008/09 7 . As at October 2009, 94% of UK
households received a doorstep or kerbside collection service
from their local council for recyclable materials 8 .
Materiality and strategy
The majority of The Co-operative’s waste arisings are associated
with The Co-operative Food. CFS and the head office complex are
the main generators of office waste.
The Co-operative’s Environmental Strategy, which has been agreed
via its Values & Principles (V&P) Committee (page 10), identifies
better waste management as one of The Co-operative’s top
environmental priorities. Furthermore, in the latest ethical policy
consultations undertaken in relation to the food, banking and
investments businesses, members and customers indicated their
wish for the business to pursue measures that promote sustainable
waste management.
Accounting
The Co-operative is able to report on waste arisings across the
majority of its businesses. Waste arisings from the operations of
former Somerfield and former Britannia in the years 2006 to 2009 are
reported. Additionally, for the first time, waste to landfill from Sunwin
Cash in Transit and soil waste to landfill from The Co-operative
Farms have been accounted for. The accuracy of the waste to
landfill tonnage for The Co-operative Clothing has improved, as it is
now based on the average weight of sample bins as opposed to the
industry standard previously used. Also in 2009, for the first time, the
tonnage of point of sale material recycled by The Co-operative Travel
and the tonnage of cardboard, plastic and paper recycled by The
Co-operative Electrical have been determined. Further
consolidation of waste management contracts will be required
to improve the accuracy of waste reporting.
Performance overview
The total reported waste arisings and general waste disposed from
the former Co-operative estate has reduced by 5,900 tonnes (7%)
and 5,500 tonnes (12%), respectively, since 2007. The reuse/
recycling rate has remained stable at around 50%.
Total reported waste arising from former Somerfield has reduced
by 38,900 tonnes (46%) since 2006; however, this is largely due
to store disposals. Despite these reductions the recycling rate has
increased by 6% since 2006 and in 2009 was 72%.
Total waste arisings and general waste disposed across former
Somerfield and The Co-operative have reduced by 36,900 tonnes
(23%) and 18,000 tonnes (26%), respectively, since 2006, whilst
the reuse/recycle rate has remained stable at around 58%.
Ecological sustainability Climate change Waste and packaging Biodiversity Persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals
The Co-operative Group Sustainability Report 2009 69