Waitrose Environmental Strategy

Renewable Energy

By October 2007, John Lewis has pledged to source all of its energy for its stores and supply chain from renewable sources. It is hoping to achieve this through a combination of wind, hydro, wave and biomas sources. Further, all new build and refurbished stores will be built using a Sustainable Construction Framework.

Sustainability

In April 2009, Waitrose launched an eco-bike delivery service from their store in Poole, Dorset. The move, the first of its kind in the UK, saw groceries delivered by electric bike to customers within 15 miles of the store. Groceries are transported in a trailer consisting of six crates, which combined are capable of carrying up to 20 shopping bags, enough for three deliveries. The crates feature chill trays, enabling products to be kept frozen or chilled for up to two hours. Supermarket bosses reportedly introduced the scheme, because they wanted to increase the volume of online deliveries without adding to the number of vans on the road. Many staff who have volunteered for the scheme are too young to drive a van. Both schemes could be rolled out to other stores across the UK if they prove a success.

In September 2009, in an update on the company’s environmental initiatives Waitrose said it had reduced its carbon emissions by 10% in a year as part of its 10:10 campaign. Since 2003, the company reduced its energy consumption by 19% and is on track to meet its target of 20% by 2010.

Waitrose’s Director of Development Nigel Keen said that Waitrose has sourced all its electricity from renewable sources for the past three years. And although it still uses gas pipe boilers to heat the stores, a clever recirculation system in some stores has helped reduce this by reusing the heat generated by refrigeration cabinets to help heat the shops, he said.

Refrigeration

The company has worked to reduce the amount of energy used in refrigeration. It has poured £55 million  into improved refrigeration over the past five years and has now recently developed hydrocarbon-based refrigeration units in place of HFC refrigerants. Waitrose has also committed to reduce leaks from refrigerants by 50% over the next three years.