Asda report updates ESG progress

Asda has published its third Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report, outlining progress towards meeting its environmental targets and the initiatives it has launched to support customers and communities.

With data covering the 2022 calendar year, the report shows Asda continued to reduce its operational carbon footprint, down eight per cent on 2021 and 40 per cent from 2015, on the way to hitting a 50 per cent reduction target by 2025 and reaching net-zero emissions by 2040.

The report also notes that Asda donated 2,173 tonnes of surplus food, the equivalent of more than 5.1 million meals, to charity from its stores, depots and home offices in 2022.

It increased the proportion of own-label packaging that can be recycled at the kerbside to 88 per cent, with a further 4.7 per cent recyclable in store, and introduced the Refill Price Guarantee on its in-store refill zones, guaranteeing that unpackaged products are cheaper than their packaged equivalents.

The supermarket recycled, reused or repurposed 86 per cent of its operational waste and again sent zero operational waste to landfill.

Supporting healthy goals

As part of its goal to support customers to make healthier choices, some 870 Asda branded items now carry the Live Better icon. The icon is designed to give customers an easy way to identify products that are classed as healthy and contain additional nutritional benefits, as set out under UK government definitions.

Asda also removed best before dates on almost 250 fresh fruit and vegetable products and changed its own-brand yoghurts to a best before date, to help customers reduce food waste in the home and save money.

The retailer’s independent charity, the Asda Foundation, invested over £4m across its grants and Green Token Giving scheme and with Asda, pledged a £1m package to support displaced Ukrainian families in Europe and the UK following the invasion by Russia.

Mohsin Issa, co-owner at Asda, said: “I am committed to growing Asda for the long term – and ensuring that the great value this business is known for can reach even more communities in the UK.

“Our third ESG Report demonstrates the progress we are making and underlines our continued commitment to delivering value to our customers by saving them time and money, through delivering a compelling consumer proposition across all formats.”