Wed 30 Aug 2023 | by Rob Hutchins

Asda continues to advance on its 2025 carbon footprint targets in third ESG report

The UK supermarket giant, Asda has reduced its operational carbon footprint a further 8% on 2021 as it continues to make strides towards its 50% reduction target by 2025 and reaching net zero emissions by 2040. This is the latest data released in what is now Asda’s third Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) report, released earlier this month to provide an annual update on the progress it has made towards meeting its environmental targets. The report also reveals Asda has donated 2,173 tonnes of surplus food, the equivalent of more than 5.1 million meals, to charity from its stores, depots, and home offices in 2022. Some of the biggest achievements over the last 12 months include increasing the proportion of own-label packaging that can now be recycled at kerbside to 88% (with a further 4.7% recyclable in store) and introducing the Refill Price Guarantee on its in-store refill zones. This initiative guarantees unpackaged products are cheaper than their packaged equivalents. Meanwhile, the supermarket recycled, reused, or repurposed 86% of its operational waste and once again sent zero operational waste to landfill. The business also removed ‘best before’ dates on almost 250 fresh fruit and vegetable products to help customers reduce food waste and save money. During 2022, Asda asked its partner factories across its clothing and home teams to participate in its first annual waste survey to understand how they manage their waste processes and to establish a baseline for a textile waste strategy for its George brand. Through its survey, the company discovered that just 4% of its clothing suppliers and 17% of its George Home facilities are actively using closed loop or circular systems to deal with waste generated through their processes. For 2023, Asda will be working with its clothing factories and George Home suppliers to support them in achieving their own plans, including looking into how its supplier policies can support best practice. “Through our continued liaison with our suppliers about their waste management we will use the results to help us build a robust strategy and policy around waste which will be reported through our future ESG reports and our website,” the team details in its report. Mohsin Issa, co-owner at Asda, said: “I am committed to growing Asda for the long-term – and ensuring the great value this business is known for can reach even more communities in the UK. “Our third ESG Report demonstrates the progress we are making and underlines our continued commitment to delivering value to our customers by saving them time and money through delivering a compelling consumer proposition across all formats.” Asda third ESG Report can be viewed here.