Sustainability Report 2009 - The Co-operative

Persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals Biodiversity Waste and packaging Climate change Ecological sustainability
Persistent,
bioaccumulative and
toxic (PBT) chemicals
Indicators
PBT chemicals reduction: food
PBT chemicals reduction: non-food
PBT chemicals reduction: goods not for resale
Targets 2009
Complete the roll-out of The Co-operative Food’s
Pesticides Policy across all frozen vegetable and potato
categories, using a web-based pesticides portal system
to aid delivery (page 84).
Review The Co-operative Food’s pesticides residue testing
programme to increase the scope of testing, and improve
results analysis and online reporting (page 84).
Progress the development of a Registration, Evaluation,
Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)
database within The Co-operative Food (page 83).
Review the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) list of
substances of very high concern (SVHCs) and amend
The Co-operative Food’s Chemicals Strategy as required
(page 83).
Identify whether any products on sale within The
Co-operative Food contain 0.1% or more of SVHCs by
2011 and notify ECHA (page 83).
target achieved
on track
Targets 2010
close to target
behind schedule
target not
achieved
• Complete the roll-out of The Co-operative Food’s
Pesticides Policy across frozen vegetable categories.
• Review The Co-operative Food’s pesticides residue testing
programme to increase the scope of testing, and improve
results analysis and online reporting.
• Progress the development of a REACH database within
The Co-operative Food.
• Extend the range of household products accredited to the
EU Eco-label standard.
Background
Over 100,000 synthetic chemicals are registered for use in the
EU 1 and more than 400 million tonnes are produced globally
each year 2 . However, minimal, or no, toxicity data exists for the
majority of these chemicals, and most have never been adequately
assessed for their human and environmental safety 3 .
Concerns with synthetic chemicals and their use generally centre
on the following:
• Persistence – where chemicals are resistant to degradation
through natural processes and consequently persist in the
environment.
• Bioaccumulation – where chemicals that plants and animals
cannot break down properly accumulate in Nature.
• Toxicity – where chemicals cause direct damage to organisms
that are exposed to them.
Materiality and strategy
The Co-operative Food and The Co-operative Farms consider safe
management of synthetic chemicals as a priority.
In the latest ethical policy consultations undertaken for banking
and investments, members and customers indicated their wish
for the former to avoid finance to businesses involved in the
production of PBT chemicals and the latter to use its power as
an institutional investor to end the production of such chemicals.
In the 2007 Co-operative Food Ethical Policy consultation (page
11), 98% of members endorsed the commitment to continue
to be the UK’s leading retailer in the removal of substances of
concern, particularly additives and pesticides. Additionally, bank
customers voted to ensure that their money would not be invested
in businesses whose core activities contribute to the development
of nanotechnology in circumstances that risk damaging the
environment or compromising human health.
The Co-operative Food Chemicals Strategy
In 2001, The Co-operative Food prioritised a list of more than
20 chemical types for removal from own-brand products.
Chemicals were primarily selected as defined by the Oslo–Paris
Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the
North-East Atlantic (OSPAR). In addition, chemical groups for which
there was emerging evidence of problematic impact (such as
Bisphenol A and PVC) were also selected. The list is reviewed, and
new chemicals added as merited, with the precautionary principle 4
continuing to exert a strong influence on deliberations.
A full list of The Co-operative Food’s Chemicals for Priority Action,
together with progress to date, is provided in the online version
of this report . More than 45 chemical groups are now listed
for screening, although, in some cases, legislation has severely
restricted the options for usage; for example, cadmium 5 .
Detailed on page 83 are examples of recent decisions taken
and their rationale, in connection with chemicals where there is
concern but, as yet, no internationally established consensus.
In 2008, The Co-operative Food launched an own-brand ecological
cleaning range consisting of seven products – laundry powder,
laundry liquid, fabric conditioner, all-purpose cleaner, washing-up
liquid, toilet cleaner and dishwasher tablets. At the time of launch,
the range was the only brand in the UK to carry both the EU’s Eco
Flower logo and the BUAV ‘Cruelty-Free’ logo.
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The Co-operative Group Sustainability Report 2009