Asda has published its third Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report, providing an annual update on the progress it has made towards meeting its environmental targets and outlining 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 8% on 2021 and 40% from 2015, on the way to hitting a 50% reduction target by 2025 and reaching net zero emissions by 2040.
The report also reveals 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% (with a further 4.7% 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% of its operational waste and once again, sent zero operational waste to landfill.
Asda continued to support customers to make healthier choices, with 870 Asda branded items now carrying its Live Better icon. This gives 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 supermarket has also launched a number of initiatives throughout the cost-of-living crisis to help customers and communities make their pounds go further. These include introducing the Just Essentials range, launching the Asda Rewards app and introducing Kids Eat for £1 in Asda Cafes – to date Asda has served almost one million meals to kids in cafes nationwide.
Asda’s independent charity, the Asda Foundation, invested over £4 million 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.”
Asda’s ESG report is available to download here.
