Award confirms Woolworths is Australia’s greenest supermarket

Managing Director of Woolworths Supermarkets, Tjeerd Jegen, said the award was recognition of the quiet efforts and drive of the Woolworths team over the past 5 years to create a more sustainable business.

“We are very humbled to have received this award, especially in an area where many people don’t expect a supermarket to be making such good achievements,” Mr Jegen said.

“Woolworths has publicly committed to a set of clear, measurable and very ambitious targets in its sustainability strategy, and we are now seeing some very good results in key areas such as food waste and carbon emissions.

“We have a goal of a 40% carbon reduction by 2015, effectively capping our emissions at 2007 levels despite the growth in store numbers. This has meant that while we opened a record number of new stores this last year, our emissions stayed the same as the previous year.

“Our target of zero food waste from our stores is well underway now with more than 2200 tonnes of food being rescued for charities, and nearly 5000 tonnes of food waste going to earth power programs.

“In our newest stores we have reduced the carbon emissions per square meter by more than 22% over the stores we were building in 2007. This is being achieved with energy efficient lightning, air conditioning and low impact carbon refrigeration.”

Mr Jegen said while there is much more to be achieved across all sectors of sustainability, Woolworths has the foundations now to really drive meaningful outcomes.

“One thing I have learned in retail is that you can’t simply wake up one morning and declare yourself a ‘green’ business. Making the changes to a more sustainable model required investment and commitment.

“I am really pleased that the team at Woolworths has worked so hard on these initiatives for many years now, and I am sure it is just the start of the Fresh Food People setting a new standard for food retailers in Australia.”