Articles

1.3.2011 Brands go green in UK

Major brand owners including Kingfisher Group, Marks & Spencer and PepsiCo are deriving tangible benefits from enhancing their green credentials in the UK. Kingfisher Group, parent of DIY chains B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt, Screwfix and Koçta?, believes this segment should prove a key future growth area. "Currently, 10% of our turnover is green products, anything from insulation to sophisticated items like solar cells. I expect that to be 30% in ten years," Ian Cheshire, Kingfisher's chief executive, told the Daily Telegraph.In a bid to stimulate this process, the company is pursuing several initiatives to assist customers interested in eco-friendly options.

High-street retailer Marks & Spencer was a comparative early-adopter having created the Plan A scheme four years ago, setting out 100 commitments from utilising more recycled material to officially ranking its suppliers. Alongside yielding £50m in annual savings through encouraging heightened efficiency, this effort has delivered a number of additional advantages.

Elsewhere, food and beverage manufacturer PepsiCo allied with the Carbon Trust, a not-for-profit body established by the government to advise private sector players about sustainability. As part of this arrangement, PepsiCo attempted to determine the carbon footprint attributable to its Walkers Crisp brand, adding the information gained to packaging. "We discovered 60% of the carbon footprint of our products is embedded before raw materials reach our factory," Walter Todd, vice president, operations, for PepsiCo UK & Ireland.  As well as cutting energy use by 7%, PepsiCo has slashed the waste it sends to landfill to zero, saving £500,000 a year.

B.L. 1.3.2011