Reducing, Reusing and Recycling
Source: Fonebank website
Every year, Britain produces 70 million tonnes of industrial and commercial waste, so the Co-operative Group’s mantra on waste management to reduce, reuse and recycle is essential. The Co-operative Group is a signatory of the Courtauld Commitment and has taken internal steps and improved it’s packaging in order to reduce waste. It has increased the rate of reuse and recycling, improved biodegradable processes and funded more sustainable waste management options.
By 2010, the Co-operative Group aims to reduce the use of packaging by 15 per cent for its branded products. The Group is the first retailer to run a successful campaign on minimizing waste in association with the Government’s Waste Resources Action Programme.
The Co-operative Group re-designed its packaging on one of its product saving 8.5 tonnes of card per annum. In 2007, it ran a successful campaign and saved 8 tonnes of plastic shrink-wrap a year. In order to reduce the impact of glass on the environment, it has switched to recyclable plastic bottles saving 270 tonnes of glass as well as reducing energy consumption through more efficient transport. To the Groups credit, it introduced the world’s lightest whisky bottle.
In 2007, the Group’s food transportation containers saved 2,835 tonnes of cardboard. It also introduced the first Fair Trade cotton carrier bag, and wherever possible ensures the re-use of old and discarded computer equipment by donating them to charities. In the same year, at its own recycling centre in Manchester, the group recycled approximately 40,000 tonnes of waste, mainly card and plastic, and 1,250 tonnes of waste. The centre has become socially responsible and has opened an educational facility in Manchester for young people to learn about sustainable living and understand recycling in action.
