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WASTE REDUCTION AND RECYCLING

To reduce the impacts of waste going to landfill, from the generation of methane – a gas with 20 times the global warming potential of CO2 – to the cost of disposal, we actively support waste reduction and recycling within our business, by our customers and throughout our supply chain.

Our approach for our operational waste involves:

• providing the right equipment and processes, such as having suitable recycling bins and collection systems in place
• sharing information, including putting our best practice guidance document onto our intranet for all Partners to access
• implementing an effective waste management strategy that doesn’t impose on our core functions as a retail business.

Diverting waste from landfill

The Partnership recycled just over 30,000 tonnes of operational waste, thereby diverting 52% of its operational waste from landfill last year, up from 49%. With John Lewis recycling 50% of its waste (up from 43%) and Waitrose 53% (up from 50%), we remain on track to meet our waste target to recycle 75% of operational waste by 2012.

Our success in Waitrose has been partly attributed to increased use of anaerobic digestion (see below). In John Lewis, a number of new recycling initiatives have been put in place. For example:

• John Lewis started segregating waste acrylic display material for reprocessing into new plastic products last year, and diverted 13 tonnes from landfill during 2009/10.
• Through shopfitting trials at Peterborough, Cheadle and Brent Cross, we diverted 50 tonnes of waste from landfill, saved £3,250 and donated fixtures and fittings to 13 charities.
• We also began to backhaul mixed waste paper in July, which not only makes good use of available truck space but also reduces our dependence on third-party collectors.

Once we have maximised recycling and anaerobic digestion opportunities, we will utilise energy from waste facilities to divert approximately 25% of our waste from landfill. This will enable us to meet our target to divert 95% of operational waste from landfill by 2013. However successful we are, we will not be able to claim ‘zero waste’ to landfill, as contaminated material and energy from waste processes leave a small amount of residual waste that still needs to be landfilled.

Food waste and anaerobic digestion

As a signatory to the first and second Courtauld Commitments (see page 32), Waitrose endeavours to minimise food waste through accurate ordering and shelf life improvement, and its work with FareShare and Company Shop, which make use of waste food. Waitrose also stipulates a three-month maximum stockholding of packaging and consults all parties before deciding to delist any lines, to keep product write-offs to a minimum.

In 2008, Waitrose became the first UK food retailer to use anaerobic digestion (AD) plants for its own operational food waste, which mix food waste with pig slurry to generate green electricity, heat and a high-nutrient fertiliser. Our trials began with five Waitrose shops; by the end of 2009, 49 were involved, and a further 66 signed up in May 2010, so half our estate (115 shops) now sends food waste to anaerobic digestion plants in Rushden through a partnership with Cawleys. A new plant being built in Doncaster will enable us to begin a new AD trial with six Waitrose shops further north. We are also seeking to expand these solutions to John Lewis, with Peter Jones and Cambridge stores already utilising such arrangements.


(Two graphs entitled: WASTE AND RECYCLING)


(Photo of Arthur Sayer)

Arthur Sayer

Manager, Recycling and Waste

"We work hard to reduce the amount of waste we produce. Inevitably though, some food waste does occur and AD has proven to be a sustainable way of eliminating the need to send it to landfill, reducing our impact on the environment and creating renewable energy along the way. The recognition from being named as the ‘best retail or commercial food waste recycler’ at the 2010 Association for Organics Recycling Awards comes at an exciting time as we extend AD to more of our shops."