Supervalu Inc (NYSE: SVU), through a partnership with World Wildlife Fund (WWF), intends to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 10% by the end of 2012 with a baseline year of 2007. Its initiative is the equivalent of eliminating the electricity use of more than 352,000 average US homes for one year.
This partnership makes Supervalu not only the first traditional grocer, but also the first major retailer to join WWF’s Climate Savers program.
“We hope others in the industry follow Supervalu’s leadership to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Jason Clay, senior vice-president of markets at WWF.
To achieve its target reduction, Supervalu has identified several areas of focus including a few initiatives such as:
•Improved refrigeration efficiencies through installation of night curtains that pull down over open refrigerated cases and better refrigeration controls on all refrigerated cases.
•Integrated fleet transportation plan that will improve efficiencies by reducing diesel fuel consumption, improving truck idle times through use of on-board technology, and reducing trailer refrigeration run time during loading and unloading of trailers.
•Conversion of store lighting from traditional fluorescent lamps to a more efficient, LED-based lighting design.
Supervalu is one of 25 participants in WWF’s Climate Savers program. Collectively, Climate Savers partners will reduce emissions by an estimated 50 million tons by the end of 2010, an amount equivalent to the carbon emissions of 8.7 million passenger vehicles or the carbon sequestered by 9.7 million acres of pine forests.
Supervalu also recently received recognition from two national organizations for its commitment to environmental stewardship.
•The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded Supervalu its EPA GreenChill’s Distinguished Partner Award, its “Best of the Best” (Certified Store) Award for its new Chestnut Hill Star Market (Chestnut Hill MA) and the Environmental Achievement Award for achievement of the company’s annual environmental goals.
•Received recognition from the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and featured on the “Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index” which tracks constituent companies within the S&P 500 Index that have displayed the most professional approach to corporate governance in respect to climate change disclosure practices.
Visit www.worldwildlife.org or www.supervalu.com for more information.
