Retailers especially the big consumer brands know what side their supermarket bread is buttered on. The green side.
Coles recently announced it’s upped its renewables commitment from 90 per cent to 100 per cent and that it intends to reach net zero by 2050.
It’s also supported the long- term net zero target with staged targets, including reducing combined Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by more than 75 per cent by the end of FY30 (from a FY20 baseline).
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By 2025, the company plans to run its supermarkets and other facilities on 100 per cent renewables. It will do this through power purchase agreements, onsite solar and agreements with renewable electricity generators.
The company has recently signed an agreement for large-scale generation certificates with Lal Lal Wind Farms near Ballarat, Victoria, until the end of 2030.
The company also has plans for a “sustainability concept store” in Moonee Ponds, Victoria, to showcase its bolstered commitment to lowering its environmental impact.
It’s also signed up to a trial of Licella’s chemical recycling technology for soft plastic packaging. The pilot program, which will involve finding a site in Victoria for an advanced manufacturing facility, will also include recycler iQ Renew, polymer manufacturer LyondellBasell and Nestlé.
Coles’ revised targets follows Woolworths Group’s commitment 100 per cent green energy by 2025 and net positive emissions by at least 2050.
Also last year, ALDI committed to purchase 100 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2021.
Welcoming the announcement, REenergise campaign director Lindsay Soutar, from Greenpeace Australia Pacific, crowned Coles the leading renewably powered energy retailer.
“All three of Australia’s biggest supermarkets have now committed to 100 per cent clean electricity, meaning the goods and services Australians use every day will soon be brought to us by the wind and sun,” she said.
“Combined with the large-scale renewable power purchases Coles has already made, today’s announcement sees them swipe the retailer renewable energy crown from rival Woolworths – for now.”