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Grocery Industry On Course To Meet Courtauld Commitment Targets

5 December 2011

WRAP today (5 December) announced that grocery retailers and manufacturers in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, are making significant progress in meeting the ambitious waste and recycling targets set out in phase 2 of the Courtauld Commitment

The results, which highlight achievements for the first year of phase 2 of the voluntary agreement, show that signatories are already half way to achieving the packaging reduction target, and three quarters of the way to reaching the household food waste objectives.

These results indicate a strong collective performance given the ambitious nature of the three year targets and the increase in volume sales among signatories. The challenge now is for businesses to build upon this early success, through the implementation of more waste prevention and resource efficiency measures.

The supply chain impact is significantly less at only 0.4 percent against a 5 percent reduction target. This is a new area for the Courtauld Commitment, and will be an area of additional focus going forward. The grocery supply chain has performed well in diverting waste from landfill, with a 40 percent reduction over the reporting period - much of this waste has gone to renewable energy production using Anaerobic Digestion (AD). WRAP will be working closely with signatories to ensure that the supply chain and other targets are reached before the end of the Commitment.　

The Courtauld Commitment is funded by all four UK governments, and is run by waste prevention advisory body WRAP. The voluntary agreement, which began in 2005, supports businesses to improve their overall performance and reduce their environmental impact. Phase 2 began in March 2010 and is due to complete in December 2012.

Dr Richard Swannell, Director, Design & Waste Prevention, WRAP, said: "Following the success of Courtauld Commitment 1, Phase 2 has focused on encouraging resource efficiency and reducing waste in the supply chain and the home. The latest phase 2 figures show good initial progress towards these by the signatories.

"The next step is to build on this good start, sharing best practice to encourage rapid change. This is particularly key around waste within the supply chain. We will continue to work with the sector to help ensure the Courtauld phase 2 targets are achieved."

Responding to a progress report issued the British Retail Consortium (BRC) says the excellent progress endorses the investment being made by retailers in reducing waste.

British Retail Consortium Head of Environment, Bob Gordon, said: "The environmental targets retailers are working towards are difficult so it's great to see the effort is already paying off.

"As part of the first Courtauld commitment retailers helped to prevent 1.2 million tonnes of food and packaging waste and the new figures show they are building on that. Retailers are educating and encouraging customers to change the way they buy and manage food. They're also redesigning products and packaging to ensure the minimum amount of material is used to preserve and protect what's inside.

"Waste within the supply chain is a particular challenge because preventing it can require investment and for businesses to introduce new processes. The ground-work is being done which will lead to bigger improvements in the near future."

Darrel Moore