The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has launched a progress report that reveals retailers have surpassed a range of targets set to reduce their environmental impact.
Titled ‘A Better Retailing Climate’, the progress report shows that retailers went above and beyond their commitments to reduce their waste, energy and water usage in 2012, with data showing that retailers sent just 10 per cent of waste to landfill in 2012, down from 45 per cent in 2005.
Set up in 2008, the BRC’s A Better Retailing Climate initiative sets a list of ‘green goals’ for the majority of the UK retail market. It also makes recommendations to the Government to help drive progress, such as more forward-looking and consistent policies for carbon reduction.
Environment policy adviser at the BRC Alice Ellison said: “This update demonstrates that the retail industry is going above and beyond in its commitments to reducing its environmental impact across all aspects of its operations. Despite the downturn and other challenges affecting business, retailers are continuing to innovate and collaborate in this space, which delivers real environmental benefits as well as value for their customers.
“We want to keep this momentum going past the 2008 commitments, so our next step is setting new targets to build on this progress and continue to invest in protecting the planet.”
