A Greener Grocer?

Tesco, one of the UK's largest supermarket chains, has pledged to reduce the amount of packaging used in both its branded and own-label products by a quarter within the next three years.

"We will label all our packaging according to whether it can be reused, recycled or composted - and if it cannot, we will label that too," promised Tesco's Chief Executive, Sir Terry Leahy. "The first labeled products will be on our shelves by 2008."

It's another in a stream of environmental initiatives announced by Tesco during the last year. With its 30 per cent share of the UK grocery market, the retail giant claims its actions could deliver 10 per cent of the required increase in packaging recovery needed to meet European targets set by the Packaging Directive for 2008.

In 2005, the company recycled 71 per cent of all store waste, and it has ambitions to develop the first-ever supermarket built entirely from recycled materials. It has also said it will trial a gasification system to turn its own waste into 'clean, sustainable power'.

The chain made £2.2 billion profit in the year ending February 2006, and promptly announced a £100 million environmental fund, launching a loyalty card campaign, rewarding customers with extra Clubcard points for environmentally friendly behaviour. Sir Leahy insisted the fund was not a gimmick to improve the image of the company. "It's a big investment," he said. "£100 million is not a PR stunt."

However, a report from the Liberal Democrats found that the lorries of nine major supermarkets travel the equivalent of nearly four return trips to the moon every day as a result of their centralised distribution systems. A spokesperson for Tesco responded: "Over the past couple of years, we have reduced the miles travelled by suppliers to our distribution centres by 23 per cent and reduced fuel usage by 14 per cent. We are also investing in alternatives to road transport such as rail freight.