Environment and sustainability
Our achievements
Packaging Claims and Product Policy
A new policy is introduced to reduce the environmental impact of CRTG brand products where possible without affecting performance or price. CRTG will not use 'Environment Friendly' or other such meaningless claims on own brand products.
Recycling
The recycling symbol is used on certain goods and the recycled content is detailed on pack. The recycling facilities at retail outlets are extended. Where safe and practical, CRTG brand packaging is made from recycled materials.
CFC's
Aerosol retailers and manufacturers endorse safer alternatives by following the lead of the CRTG, which switched its stock of aerosols to alternative gases in 1987.
Pesticides
After pioneering the use of integrated crop management (ICM) on its own farms, CRTG joins with other retailers and farmers to develop crop protocols. These are designed to minimise the use of chemicals, whilst providing safe food at affordable prices.
Bag it and Bin it
CRTG supports the campaign to Bag It and Bin It, which highlights the damaging effects that careless disposal of personal hygiene products can have on the environment. Therefore where applicable CRTG brand products carry the bold heading 'BAG IT AND BIN IT - Don't flush it' and recommend that all insoluble products are 'bagged' and 'binned' and not flushed down the toilet.
World Wildlife Fund Group
CRTG joins WWF 95 + Group. The group has a broad membership and is committed to sourcing wood from well-managed sources and ensuring the well being of the native population. The Forestry Stewardship council sets the criteria.
Marine Stewardship Council
CRTG registers support for the Marine Stewardship Council and works together to ensure sustainable marine fisheries by promoting responsible, environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable fishing practices.
Lindane
CRTG suppliers are the first to be told to ensure that Lindane is not being used as an agricultural treatment for fresh produce for CRTG brand products sold in its stores. This follows mounting concerns over the effects of the chemical on human health. A halt was called to the use of Lindane on the 85,000 acres of land CRTG farms. Lindane is eliminated from domestic gardening products sold in its stores.
Environment Management System
CRTG is committed to introducing a co-ordinated environmental management system (EMS) across its family of businesses. A pilot programme is currently underway in CRTG travel (Travelcare), Britain's largest independent travel agent, and provides a useful insight into the practices of managing the environmental impact of a multi-site retail operation.
Closing the Loop
CRTG introduces a unique and exciting scheme whereby the wastepaper generated at our head offices is used to make products, which are then sold through CRTG food stores throughout the UK, hence 'Closing the Loop'. For own brand 100% Recycled Toilet Tissues and Co-op 100% Recycled Kitchen Towels our scrap office wastepaper, previously sent to landfill in the general waste stream, is now collected, recycled and, via our paper product suppliers, made into these products which we sell in our own shops.
Green Apple Awards
CRTG's commitment to the environment is rewarded by receiving a Green Apple Award in 2001 for the Closing the Loop scheme outlined above and also in 2002 in recognition of its policy to reduce pesticides
Degradable Bags
CRTG launched Britain's first 100% degradable carrier bag, to help reduce landfill waste. Although the bags are 100% degradable, they are just as strong as non-degradable carrier bags and can still be reused. This move was supported by instore point of sale encouraging re-use.
We moved all our own brand sliced bread bags to degradable material.
We switched our entire pre-packed produce range to degradable bags.
Chemicals strategy
Pesticides, packaging materials and food additives have all come under the spotlight, with concerns raised over their potential adverse effects. These concerns cover a wide range including some health issues, direct environmental effects, and accumulation of chemicals in the environment potentially affecting the food we eat.
Although in many cases, more research work is necessary, we are taking a precautionary approach and this means questioning the use of some chemicals in our products.
Our approach follows our strong policies on pesticide use. We have banned the use of a number of pesticides for CRTG produce and products, and tightened controls on others. We are continuing to develop this policy, working with farmers worldwide to improve controls, find alternative approaches to farming that are equally effective, reducing reliance on chemical intervention and utilising more benign chemicals where these are required.
Our Actions
Working with a team of environmental specialists, the co-operative prioritised a list of chemicals with the aim of removing them, or ensuring that they were not in own brand products.
We selected the chemicals for attention with reference to internationally set priorities, primarily those defined by the Convention of the Protection of the Marine Environment (OSPAR), but taking account of growing concerns about other chemicals. We will continue to review our priority list of chemicals as new information and concerns come to light.
Recycling
The world has been manufacturing plastics since the 1930's, but as less than 5% of these materials have been incinerated, the rest are still somewhere on the planet. Nearly all (over 96%) of the 2.5 million tonnes the UK uses in household plastics every year ends up in landfill, and it will be many decades before it begins to break down.
Most packaging can be recycled, some materials more easily than others. However, taking all energy and material uses into account, recycling alone is not always the only or perhaps even the best solution. For example, the process of collecting, cleaning and reusing or recycling may use more energy and other resources than starting from scratch with new materials.
Hygiene requirements often restrict the use of recycled paper and plastic materials in direct contact with food (recycled glass and metal can be used because the recycling process heats them to a high enough temperature to ensure that no contamination is present in the recycled material).
Also, recycled packaging materials must be able to meet performance standards, and protect the product, in the same way as virgin materials.
What we do
CRTG is in favour of recycling, and encourages and helps to facilitate the recycling of packaging used for our own brand products, providing that it saves resources, cuts pollution and is economic. Where space on pack permits, CRTG brand packaging is labelled to indicate which materials pack components are made from, so helping consumers to recycle through normal segregated recycling channels.
To supplement this policy, alternative technologies are encouraged, including degradable and biodegradable plastic packaging.
We started using degradable carrier bags in selected stores from 2nd September 2002. These give away carrier bags are made from oil-based polymers, but contain a special additive which programmes the plastic to degrade within a specified timescale. A number of factors can accelerate the degradation process, such as sunlight, heat and stress, but once the degradation has started, either before or after landfill, it will continue.
Pesticides
So what is a pesticide?
A pesticide is any substance, mixture or organism made or used for destroying any pest. In addition to those chemicals used, for example, to kill insects, the definition commonly includes other chemicals used in agriculture such as those used for controlling weeds or moulds, for sterilising soils, or even preserving woods and regulating growth.
All in all, pesticides are designed to kill! They are intended to destroy living organisms that you don't want but avoid harming those that you do want. So a weedkiller will selectively kill those plants growing in the wrong place, which we call weeds, whilst leaving the crop we want to harvest for food unharmed.
It is not, therefore, surprising that pesticides are pretty nasty chemicals. This raises issues as varied as residues on food, effects on wildlife and the environment, and also the safety of people who work with them. What makes their use acceptable is that they are chosen because they attack the unwanted pest, are used in low doses and increase crop yields.
What are pesticides used for?
Pesticides are just one of a number of ways that farmers can use to help reduce the number of pests to an acceptable level. Most people think of pesticides as chemicals used by farmers to protect crops.
These pesticides may be described as herbicides or weedkillers and insecticides, those that kill insect pests. We also use these types of pesticide when gardening. Councils use them in parks. They are sprayed on railway lines and roads to keep them clear of weeds.
As well as being used to protect crops whilst they are growing, pesticides can be used throughout the growing cycle of plants. The soil may be treated with a soil sterilant before the crop is planted to destroy any weeds or moulds which could damage the seed or the plant or compete with it for nutrients from the soil. Seeds themselves may be treated with pesticides to prevent the growth of moulds.
During growth so-called growth regulators and desiccants may be used to control the growth rate of the crop. The harvested crop may be treated with food storage protectors after being put in a silo, which has been fumigated, again to prevent insect infestation and moulds, which could damage the food.
So-called post harvest treatments are used not only to protect grain but also to protect vegetables, such as potatoes, during storage.
Surface treatments on fruit, including waxing, similarly provide protection, particularly from mould growth. Rat poisons and bird and animal repellents are also used to prevent infestation to preserve the crop for us to eat.
Benefit versus Risk
The benefit may seem obvious. Pesticides help to ensure our continuing food supply. Without their use an estimated 35% of the world's harvest would be lost, and further damage to stored products would increase this loss even more.
They ensure the quality of food we have come to expect; free from insect and mould damage and available all year round, allowing products which have been brought from abroad or stored, to reach us in good condition, giving greater choice and variety. They increase yields, bringing down prices.
Pesticides are important for food hygiene. They prevent rats, mice, flies and other insects from contaminating our food. This both ensures that the food we buy does not bring pests into the home and protects our homes from pests. They protect us and our pets and the fabric of our homes.
There is a downside. Some people are concerned about the use of chemicals. Others are worried about the residues they may leave in food, whether they are safe or whether they may be building up problems for the future. Are they safe for my baby? Can I prepare food in such a way to reduce or eliminate them?
Others worry about their effects on wildlife and the environment, pointing to changes in the landscape, the lack of poppies in the fields, and the decreasing numbers of certain types of birds.
Finally, the safety of people who work with them must be considered.
Peat strategy
Peat Strategy
Lowland raised peat bogs are amongst the UK's rarest habitats and support a distinct range of animals including rare birds and invertebrates in addition to plants adapted to waterlogged conditions such as grasses, bog mosses, lichen and fungi. Harvesting of peat and a range of other activities such as livestock and forestry and factors such as pollution disrupt the ecological balance of the peatland and can lead to the eventual destruction of the raised bog habitat.
CRTG Action
Peat has been used as the major constituent of most horticultural growing media in the UK for many years. Changing reliance on peat is not going to happen overnight. Commercial growers and consumers need to be made aware that alternatives exist and need to have confidence and familiarity with the new materials.
Government and others such as the RSPB and National Trust, therefore, recommend a period of gradual transition and change-over towards peat free media to allow manufacturers to develop alternative products and to allow peat users to adjust to the new materials.
Our long-term goal is to meet Government targets for a minimum 90% reduction in peat use by the end of 2010, however, we recognise that to achieve this there are other considerations that are outside our direct control which need to be addressed first.
The most significant of these is the provision of consistent quality product in sufficient volume that will satisfy the requirements of the horticultural market. We have, therefore, decided to set annual dilution targets which will be dependant on the availability of alternatives and confirmation of efficacy at the higher levels.
Targets
Co-op Multipurpose compost from 2005 will be diluted with 10% alternative material and thereafter targets will be set on an annual basis with the aim of achieving a minimum 90% reduction in peat usage by 2010. The target for 2006 is 35%. Similar reductions will also apply across growing plants and herbs.
Peat Free Product
In addition to our dilution policy we will also ensure that a totally peat free Co-op growing media forms a permanent part of the range.
Labelling
As the leaders in Honest Labelling we are committed to telling our customers where peat is used in our products. Growing media will therefore declare that it contains X% peat on the front of pack and similar labelling will be rolled out to pot plants and growing herbs in due course.
Peat Conservation
In line with best practice the co-operative will ensure that its peat-based products are not derived from Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and will only source from sites where extensive alteration or modification has already taken place. This may include peatlands presently used for agriculture or other purposes including those extensively modified by early extraction or drainage.
CRTG, in partnership with its horticultural suppliers, will investigate and promote the development of alternatives for all current uses of peat.
Suggested external links
Biodiversity action plan on lowland peatbogs
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Friends of the Earth