Page 34


Working with WRAP, the British Retail Consortium and other retailers, our standard on-pack labelling scheme for packaging uses a single Recyclenow logo and an icon to clearly indicate its recyclability to customers.


The Partnership continues to engage in dialogue concerning the impact of single-use carrier bags. While we continue to believe that a voluntary approach using campaigns to educate and raise awareness, rather than charging for bags, is the best means for reducing their use, we have contributed directly, and via the BRC, to the shaping of the Welsh Government’s plans to introduce charging so that regulations are workable.


MORE INFORMATION

In this report:

Our progress against targets and commitments

On the web:

Courtauld Commitment


PACKAGING

We take our own packaging usage very seriously. Building upon the product packaging reductions cited in previous years, we continue to explore what packaging optimisation can be achieved across all areas without being detrimental to product quality or safety, with the packaging remaining fit for purpose and not incurring waste further down the supply chain. For example, John Lewis delivered over 50 examples of lightweighting in 2009/10 including 12 examples in electrical leads, four toys from our Christmas range and 16 lines in bakeware. Updated packaging guidelines for buying and packaging designers were also launched to help to support further reductions in 2010.

In Waitrose, we have begun an audit of our complete own-brand assortment. Once complete, this information can be used to measure improvements. We continue to encourage recycled content where it is appropriate and safe to do so, with the majority of our PET plastic now having a percentage of recycled content.

In March 2010, Waitrose was one of 28 signatories for the second phase of the Courtauld Commitment (CC2). CC2’s targets for 2012, against a 2009 baseline, are to collectively achieve:

• a 10% reduction in the carbon impact of grocery packaging
• a 4% reduction for household food and waste
• a 5% reduction for product and packaging waste in the supply chain.

We have recycled transit packaging materials such as cardboard and plastics from our shops and distribution centres for more than 20 years. More recently, 11 John Lewis shops have begun backhauling polystyrene packaging along with electrical appliances that have been collected from customers’ homes. In an attempt to ‘close the loop’, a company in Brackley turns the polystyrene into ‘chipped’ pieces for reuse as a packaging material, but also treats it with an enzyme so that it biodegrades, should it end up in landfill via the customer’s general waste.

In addition, while we have chosen not to backhaul cardboard and polythene waste streams using trucks that also carry fresh food, we have instead conducted a successful 18-month trial at 12 Waitrose shops using Lenham Storage, which delivers paper goods to our stores. Now, instead of paying for a contractor to collect waste, 120 Waitrose shops are working with Lenham Storage to backhaul and bale their waste cardboard and plastic, which can then be sold for recycling.

Involving our customers

We encourage customers to play their part by offering recycling facilities where space or local collection arrangements allow, and provide recycling points for plastic carrier bags in our Waitrose shops and four John Lewis shops. Our five Waitrose Food & Home shops offer mobile phone recycling, and in line with legislative changes requiring us to do so, we have put battery recycling facilities in all shops. John Lewis stores also run a bed recycling scheme – taking away customers’ old beds when they deliver a new one. We also support the recycling of electrical and electronic appliances by helping to fund the Distributor Take Back Scheme (DTS) as part of our obligations under the UK’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations.