Waste and recycling

Packaging

Our product primary packaging represents approximately 90,000 tonnes of consumer waste, and is an issue that particularly concerns our customers. Waitrose packaging designers are continually looking at ways to improve packaging performance and, where possible, reduce packaging weight. Waitrose is a signatory of the Courtauld Commitment, which was launched in July 2005 by the Government-funded Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP). By signing up to the Courtauld Commitment with 12 other leading retailers Waitrose has made a public commitment to help explore the viability of new materials and to support WRAP in meeting its objectives. In 2008, Waitrose and other signatories helped achieve this first target to eliminate packaging growth by the end of 2008, despite a sharp increase in sales.

Over the last few years we have implemented a range of initiatives to lightweight packaging, trial innovative packaging solutions and introduce more recycled and recyclable materials. One such initiative is the reduction of the thickness for all prepared salad and leaf plastic bags, which has been achieved without lowering quality or shortening the life of the product. This enabled a 14.3% reduction in the weight of packaging used, as well as reducing the misting inside the bags and improved the quality of the seal. Smoked salmon packaging has also been reduced by 50%, the removal of paper labels on own-brand egg boxes is predicted to save 35 tonnes of packaging a year and we have introduced wine bottles made from 60% recycled glass that deliver a 30% reduction in weight. The launch of ‘essential Waitrose’ in 2009 saw the introduction of a number of lines with reduced packaging.

Recycling

Waitrose has recycled packaging materials such as cardboard and plastic from its shops and distribution centres for more than 20 years. As part of our legal packaging obligation Waitrose spends almost £1 million a year to help recycle consumer packaging. We also encourage customer recycling and our Waitrose shops offer recycling facilities for customers where feasible, the only limiting factors being space or local collection arrangements. As part of our commitment to encouraging customer recycling we provide recycling points for plastic carrier bags in Waitrose shops, our five Food & Home shops offer mobile phone recycling, and 2010 will see the introduction of battery recycling facilities in all shops. Waitrose also supports websites Recycle Now and Recycle More that enable consumers to identify their nearest recycling centre and importantly, the types of materials that may be recycled.

Working with WRAP, the British Retail Consortium and other leading retailers, we developed a standard on-pack recycling labelling scheme for packaging, which was launched in 2008. The initiative replaces the previous range of recycling symbols and messages with a single Recyclenow logo and an icon to indicate the recyclability of the packaging.

Food waste

As a signatory to the Courtauld Commitment, Waitrose is committed to tackling the challenge of food waste and has recently signed up to support delivery of a new WRAP target to reduce the amount of food wasted in UK homes by 155,000 tonnes by March 2010 against a 2008 baseline. We endeavour to minimise food waste through accurate ordering and we are exploring a number of options to ensure that any waste food we do produce, is diverted from landfill. Waitrose also has an agreement with food charity FareShare that allows them to acquire and distribute surplus own-label food in our supply chain to good causes, and through a similar deal, Company Shop can also now purchase surplus food from suppliers for onward discount retailing in staff shops.

To help customers to avoid wasting food, Waitrose puts recommended serving sizes or number of servings on packaging where possible, is making ‘use by’, ‘best before’ and ‘display until’ date codes more prominent, and is increasing awareness through publications, leaflets and waitrose.com. We support WRAP’s Love Food Hate Waste campaign.

Waitrose was the first national food retailer to utilise anaerobic digestion to dispose of waste food rather than sending it to landfill. The first trials of anaerobic digestion, a natural process using pig slurry with food waste to generate green electricity, heat and a high nutrient fertiliser residue, took place in five branches in May 2008. Since then other branches have followed and Waitrose has diverted more than 440 tonnes of food waste from landfill as well as generating enough green electricity to power two of our shops for 10 days. The scheme will be rolled out to more branches as more digestion plants become available.

Read more about food waste.

Plastic bags

Waitrose estimates that it gives away 220 million of the 12.4 billion free carrier bags handed out by UK retailers each year. Although a small percentage of the product packaging it handles each year, Waitrose is keen to reduce unnecessary bag use and was the first retailer to introduce a 'Bag for Life' in 1997. Sold to its customers for 10p, bags are replaced free of charge once worn out. All returned, worn out bags are recycled. Despite the success of our Bags for Life, there are still many customers who use free disposable carrier bags. To encourage them to switch, we regularly run 'Bag for Life' promotions and awareness campaigns in our stores.

In December 2008, the UK Government, the British Retail Consortium and leading supermarkets agreed to a 50% cut in the number of single-use carrier bags given out to customers by spring 2009, measured against a 2006 baseline, in a bid to radically reduce the consumption of single-use carrier bags. Although collectively retailers gave away 420 million fewer single-use carrier bags in May 2009 than May 2006, a reduction of 48%, plastic bags are still a hot topic. Through promoting our Bag for Life and other reusable bags, Partner training and prominent communications encouraging customers to reuse their existing bags, Waitrose reduced single-use carrier bag usage by 50% in May 2009 compared to May 2006. We remain committed to continuing to reduce their use and environmental impact.

Recycling electrical and electronic equipment

For information click here.