THE Scottish Retail Consortium used its Holyrood Parliamentary Reception, last month, to launch a new set of commitments for environmental sustainability, including targets to be achieved by 2020. Announced in the report A Better Retailing Climate: Driving Resource Efficiency in Scotland, the targets cover carbon and climate change, natural resources, and waste.
Using 2005 levels as a staring point, the shops consortium, which represents food and non-food retailing businesses, pledges to reduce carbon emissions from retail operations by 25%, energy-related emissions from store deliveries by 45%, and energy-related emissions from building by 50% by 2020.
It also promises to reduce waste to landfill, water waste and emissions from refrigeration.
HFC refrigerants are to be phased out from 2015.
David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: “The retail industry has a massive footprint and direct involvement in communities right across Scotland. With this comes a responsibility to operate in a sustainable way.
“The key message is that we are rising to the challenge of climate change.”
