Welcome to Asda’s sustainability store! Asda is committed to creating a sustainable business, and its efforts are proving inspirational. They have announced that their commitments have clear aims: To reduce the environmental impact of our operations, the goods and services we sell, and the suppliers that make them. Asda is clearly leading the way for stores worldwide, with multiple targets including 60% reduction in emissions from transport operations, 30% energy intensity reduction, 30% reduction in water use and towards becoming a 0 waste store. Since 2007, they have reduced their packaging weight by 27%, and are committed to all packaging being recyclable by 2025.
Asda’s Innovative Sustainability Store
The doors have opened! Asda has welcomed customers to its new sustainable trial store in Leeds, where shoppers will be able to grab their products in a package-free environment. The store was opened with three key missions in mind; reduce, reuse, recycle, with the promise that there will be no extra costs for greener shopping. Asda has announced that throughout 2021 they hope to open more locations across the nation.
What Does The Store Feature?
Numerous food brands have partnered up with Asda in this mission, including PG Tips, Kellog’s, Persil and Radox in the opening of this new store. They will all have their products on sale using the new non-packaging solution…But how exactly is this done? The following has been included within the store to make this possible:
- 15 refill stations: refillable stations take away the need for single-use packaging. Bringing back your own containers to fill up allows customers to actively reduce their plastic waste use.
- 53 fresh produce lines: the fresh produce is sold in a loose unwrapped format or with paper wrapping.
- Eliminating plastic packaging: popular food brands such as Heinz are sold with the removal of the outer plastic wrapping.
- Recycling facilities: recycling points are included at the store for items that would normally be difficult to recycle using kerbside collections.
- Asda’s first reverse vending machine: this is used for cans, plastic and glass drinks bottles and a hanger recycling facility.
- Community zone: provided for customers to easily donate to different charities.
- Pre-Loved area: this is a vintage wholesaler that will be selling sustainable fashion.
The Results
Asda has now committed to introducing over 40 refillable products by 2023, a huge step towards tackling plastic pollution in this industry. Since October, Asda has listened to its customers and colleagues feedback on the sustainable store to understand how they can continue to reduce environmental impacts and improve their new store before expanding.
Image: ASDA
