Environmental Policy

Overview

Our Society Purpose is ‘through the power of co-operation, we’re building a fairer, more sustainable, and ethical future.  We have four core values that underpin our Purpose and guide the way we work; Democracy, Openness, Equality and Social Responsibility. 

Concern for the environment is a key element of our social responsibility agenda and we believe that being environmentally responsible plays an important part in our Society’s overall success.

We recognise that there are physical limits to our planet’s resources, and that any business activity that exceeds these limits is unsustainable in the long term.

 

Overview

This policy outlines our commitments to reducing the environmental impact of our operations, and what is expected of our colleagues to support this, and our engagement with members and broader stakeholders to promote environmental change through championing and campaigning on environmental issues. 

We seek to manage and develop our business in a sustainable and values-driven manner, which means that our business activities should meet our present needs whilst building strong local communities and enabling future generations to thrive.

Our Society actively supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and this policy helps us ensure that these Goals are core to our business activity, supporting our mission of creating a better, fairer world. 

This policy is in place to ensure that our businesses meet our environmental obligations in line with our relevant policies and procedures.  

 

Our Core Environmental Focus Areas

We focus on the most significant environmental impacts from our business operations, which are primarily reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and reducing waste.

To support this, we have the following key measures in place;

• Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions: To reduce our direct GHG emissions by 40% by January 2026 (compared to 2019 levels)

• Food waste: To reduce controllable food waste across our food stores by 30% by January 2026 (compared to 2019 levels)

 

Our business is committed to the following;

• Continuously identify ways to save energy, reduce waste in day-to-day operations, and ultimately reduce our total Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions across our operations

• Consider opportunities to ensure that our products and services are environmentally friendly, considering elements such as recyclability and the elimination of single use plastics where possible

• Encourage colleagues to reduce their carbon emissions and waste, and increase recycling in the workplace

• Champion the Society’s sustainability initiatives to members and communities   

• Support the Society’s focused activity on increasing awareness and supporting action from all stakeholders to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals

 

Who is Responsible for this Policy? 

All colleagues are responsible for the following;

• Reading and understanding this policy, and acting in accordance with the policy and the Society’s wider commitment to social responsibility at all times.

• Continuously striving to save energy, increase recycling, and reduce waste in day to day operations

• Where possible removing single-use plastics from day to day operations

• Encouraging fellow colleagues to reduce their carbon emissions and waste, and increase recycling in the workplace

• Championing the Society’s sustainability initiatives to members and communities  

• Supporting the Society’s focused activity on increasing awareness and supporting action from members and colleagues in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.    

 

All managers are responsible for the following;

• Ensuring sites and teams are taking action to help achieve the Society’s Environmental related targets

• Ensuring sites and teams follow any energy-saving site shutdown procedures and energy-saving actions  

• Ensuring that sites and teams are following the Society’s waste and recycling processes, ensuring that waste is minimised and recycling levels are maximised, wherever possible

• Helping to raise awareness amongst teams around energy saving and waste reduction

• Striving to identify and implement opportunities to save energy and reduce waste amongst teams and across sites.

• Being able to talk about the actions the Society is taking to save energy and reduce waste to colleagues, members and customers

• Considering opportunities to ensure that our products and services are environmentally friendly

 

Taking Action

We expect all Trading Groups and colleagues to comply with the Society’s Environmental Policy and associated policies in the first instance, and to consider the following in day to day activity;

Waste Reduction:

• Aim to produce less waste across our operations year on year. In simple terms, try to put less waste in the bins in our offices and trading sites

• Adhere to the relevant day to day processes to reduce food waste (Food Retail specific)  

• Try to avoid using single-use plastic in the workplace

• Always aim to recycle any waste produced through your site’s recycling bins

• Reduce the amount of paper that we use and print in the workplace

  • Think before you print

    • It is simply too easy to push the print-button. For example, much paper is wasted by printing out single line emails or printing out unnecessary copies of documents.
    • Think twice if you really need to print – if it is necessary to print make sure you print on both sides (duplex).

  • Conduct paper-less meetings:

    • Use screens and online tools to share documents, rather than printing copies
    • When you hold a meeting, do you really need to have hard copies of preparatory materials available for each participant?
    • Make sure meeting participants have electronic access to all the materials beforehand and encourage those using computers not to print out copies
    • Make copies “as needed” rather than in large batches at one time. Frequently, extra copies of important internal documents become outdated quickly and only end up being discarded. Making copies as needed can reduce this problem significantly

  • Reuse paper

    • Set up systems in your departments / sites to store non confidential scrap paper than can be re-used by colleagues
    • Consider if your paper can be re-used for your own note taking etc... before putting in the recycling bin
    • Use outdated letterheads for in-house note taking

  • Use less paper by effectively using computers and other technology

    • Use electronic means to communicate with members, colleagues and customers where possible
    • For editing and reviewing of larger documents, transfer documents securely by e-mail, and utilise shared folders and online tools, rather than sending a printed copy.
    • Use Colleagues Connect for accessing colleague information digitally, and for sharing key information where relevant

Energy saving: Aim to reduce the amount of energy used in the workplace by carrying out the following:

 

 

Measuring and Monitoring

Key Performance Metrics:

• Monitor and report on our total GHG across our operations, and year-on-year reductions

• Monitor and report on our total food waste reduction across our food stores

Regular energy usage reports and food waste reports are produced to enable colleagues to view progress against annual energy saving and waste reduction targets.  

 

Policy name:	Environmental Policy	Date of last review:	July 2023
Policy owner:	Community	Issue number:	Comm-MP-002