On the release of its latest sustainability report, Woolworths Group says it has made significant inroads on some goals, and revised and added others.
As the group approaches the halfway point in its Sustainability 2025 Plan, Woolworths says that the majority of its formed commitments remain relevant, with updates made to better reflect the current operating environment.
Key achievements include:
- a 31 per cent reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions since 2015;
- 100 per cent of stores having food rescue partners;
- and over 50 million meals donated to OzHarvest since 2014.
Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci says the company has long recognised the importance of collaboration, and that the nature of the sustainability challenges it face requires collective action.
“We are pleased to have this year taken our first material steps towards better understanding and managing the greenhouse gas emissions that exist in our extended supply chain. We will work in partnership with our suppliers on solutions to reduce scope 3 emissions.
“We are making good progress to embrace diversity, reduce our emissions, food waste and plastic waste (removing single use plastic bags in Western Australia ahead of legislative requirements), increase recycling and provide healthier, more sustainable product choices for our customers.
“The scale of our business enables us to make a meaningful contribution and this responsibility, as well as the rapid pace of change in sustainability meant that during the year we felt it important to review our Sustainability Plan 2025,” said Banducci.
Earmarked Sustainability 2025 Plan refinements:
- strengthen focus on making healthier choices easier for customers, with the aim to grow the proportion of sales from healthier products;
- formalising the approach to responsible stewardship of natural resources and the future of protein;
- supporting better health outcomes in remote Indigenous communities, and investing in Indigenous businesses; and
- adjusting the scope of its responsible retailing commitment to include tobacco.
Better for the planet
Woolworths has made headway on its four sustainability goals in relation to the planet, most significantly in its renewable energy and zero-waste goals.
Working towards 100 per cent green electricity by 2025, its operations in South Australia achieved 100 per cent green electricity in July, and there are 175 sites with solar across Australia and New Zealand.
Its current total renewable electricity use is 16 per cent.
Woolworth's first steps towards renewable energy in 2021 included its first power purchase agreement (PPA) with CWP Renewables, to build a wind farm in NSW, which planned to offset almost 158,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually and cover roughly 30 per cent of Woolworths Group’s energy consumption in NSW by 2022.
Aiming to reach zero food waste to landfill by 2025, Woolworths reported that it provided equivalent of over 30 million meals to alleviate food insecurity through its food rescue partners. The company said it had more to do to improve diversion rates from landfill by embedding more robust processes and expanding its organic waste solutions.
Its progress on net-positive emissions by 2050 has seen Woolworths record that its operating emissions increased marginally by <1%, and 55 suppliers engaged in programs providing insights to prioritise emission reduction work.
In regards to responsible stewardship of natural resources, Woolworths is still in the planning stage of its stewardship goals. It reports its group board endorsed a 'nurturing nature strategy', and that work to embed the strategy is planned for FY23. Smart water meters have been installed in 380 stores, and work is underway to identify efficiencies and measure water consumption volumes.
Own brand improvements
Woolworths was ranked Australia’s Healthiest Supermarket Own Brands, based on average Health Star Rating, with 61.7 per cent of Woolworths Supermarkets eligible sales from healthier products (≥3.5 Health Star Rating), according to the George Institute for Global Health’s FoodSwitch: State of the Food Supply report (2019, 2020, 2021).
In its Sustainability 2025 Plan, the group aims for 100 per cent of its own brand packaging and sourcing to be sustainable. It reported 4262 tonnes of virgin plastic packaging had been removed from circulation in FY22, and Woolworths Supermarkets and BIG W stores had committed to stop selling 15 cent and online plastic bags by end the end of June.
Woolworths own brand sustainably sourced single product tea, coffee, cocoa, sugar is 100 per cent sourced, including 100 per cent of soy sourced in own brand products now supports the responsible production of soy. All own brand whole shell eggs are now cage free, and the company invested in alternative protein innovations, including All G Foods and Harvest B.
It also commenced a cotton supply chain traceability pilot to increase visibility of raw material sourcing.
Its goal of leading the responsible retailing and consumption of alcohol and tobacco saw more progress in New Zealand, rather than Australia, reporting that its Countdown stores saw the biggest improvements, with the Countdown range now including 91 zero alcohol options, a 10 per cent increase from FY22.
Journey to reconcillition
In July, Woolworths announced the creation of its First Nations Advisory Board, a change that the retailer said would guide it as it seeked to improve engagement with Indigenous communities and make meaningful contributions towards Closing the Gap and reconciliation.
Woolworths updated its Procurement Policy in FY22, with special conditions to increase Indigenous engagement and launched our internal Indigenous Business Directory. It also participated in Supply Nation’s ‘Connect’ event as an exhibitor, meeting Indigenous businesses and industry leaders. Woolworths' 2025 target, from FY23, is to have three per cent of non-trade influenceable spend with Indigenous suppliers.
Looking to 2023, Woolworths says it will continue to better understand the challenges facing remote Indigenous communities in relation to food security, affordability and nutrition, and will play a part in improving these outcomes, by working alongside government, industry, Indigenous organisations and communities.
Into 2023
The Australian Financial Review named Woolworths the 2022 Sustainability Leader for impact. Chief sustainability officer Alex Holt said that Woolworths was proud of the progress so far, but there was more to be done.
"Since launching our Sustainability Plan 2025, we have worked to set ourselves up and in FY22, created a group-wide sustainability program to build momentum towards our sustainability goals. We have grown our team, invested in our data and analytics capabilities and strengthened our governance to influence overarching business priorities.
"While we are proud of our progress so far, we know there is much more to do. Sustainability is one of the deepest transformational programs that has taken place at Woolworths Group over recent years; together we’re creating a positive legacy that is not only good for people and the planet, it is central to creating long-term value," said Holt.
