This organisation promotes limiting global warming to 1.5°C
Consum is the first Spanish supermarket chain to obtain the validation of its decarbonisation targets from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). This independent global organisation was founded as a result of the collaboration between the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the United Nations Global Compact and the World Resources Institute (WRI). It evaluates emission reduction targets for companies based exclusively on scientific criteria and it promotes limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
With this validation, the Cooperative aligns its carbon footprint reduction strategy with the Paris Agreement and commits to reducing its direct emissions by 42%, maintaining its support for electricity coming from 100% renewable sources and reducing the intensity of indirect emissions by 51.6%. These commitments are to be achieved in the short term, by 2030, using the figures for 2020 as the baseline.
To achieve these targets, Consum is working on reducing its direct emissions by replacing the refrigerant gasses in its equipment with less contaminating alternatives. Moreover, since 2014, a natural CO2 refrigerant has been installed in the refrigeration facilities of all new supermarket openings and refurbishments. This refrigerant is natural, clean and environmentally friendly.
Additionally, 100% of the electricity used at Consum in 2022 was from certificated renewable sources. The Cooperative also has photovoltaic solar panels installed in 12 supermarkets, which enable it to generate solar energy for the supermarkets’ own use. Since 2015, the year in which it began to calculate its carbon footprint, Consum has reduced this by 86% and is the first company within the Spanish food distribution sector to obtain the “Reduzco” seal from the Department for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demographics (MITERD)).
In relation to indirect emissions, Consum continues to support logistics efficiency by renewing its fleet and optimising transport routes. In fact, in 2022, it was awarded its third Lean & Green star, an international certification for sustainable logistics which is led by AECOC in Spain. It achieved this distinction for reducing its CO2 emissions by 40.33% compared to 2018 and because it exceeded a reduction of 35%, the minimum required for the third star.
More than a decade of commitment
Consum has been a member of the United Nations Global Pact, the largest corporate sustainability initiative in the world, since 2011. One of its aims is to promote the implementation of the SDGs within the business sector.
After decarbonisation, the second pillar of the Cooperative’s Environmental Policy is the circular economy. The most notable initiative of 2022 has been the development of a circular economy project which, in this instance, transforms Expanded Polystyrene (EPS), commonly known as Porexpán, from recovered waste in the Consum platforms into furniture for the ovens sections of its supermarkets.
Moreover, within this line of work, in 2022 the Cooperative renewed its Zero Waste certification from AENOR throughout its logistics platforms, as well as its company headquarters. This verifies the traceability of all waste created right up to recycling or recovery. Currently, with the help of private waste managers, over 99% of recovered waste is being recycled or recovered.
