Asda updates on ESG performance

Industry News

Asda has published its fifth Environmental, Social and Governance Report, updating on the progress made towards its ESG targets last year.

Key updates from the report include:

Net Zero Carbon

  • A 12% reduction in operational carbon emissions (scope 1&2) since 2023.

  • Asda has now reduced its scope 1&2 carbon footprint by 48% since 2021 – meaning Asda is likely to hit its 2025 goal of a 50% reduction.

  • This reduction was driven by Asda’s investment in two new Bio-LNG (liquefied natural gas) refueling facilities in 2024 – which significantly cut the company’s carbon emissions.

Nature

  • In 2024, Asda achieved full Leaf Marque certification across its UK fresh produce growers, covering over 500 – marking a major step forward in supporting sustainable farming and in improving water, biodiversity, and soil outcomes on Asda fresh produce farms.

Health and sustainable choices

  • Increased the proportion of own-brand packaging that can be recycled to 97.5%. Packaging innovation has also seen the following improvements:

  • Relaunched Asda’s Just Essentials fresh beef mince into new vacuum-packed packaging, leading to a 60% packaging reduction, removing 43 tonnes of plastic.

  • Reduced the weight of Asda’s Prosecco bottles by 4.8%, cutting 26.5 tonnes of glass.

  • A brand-new packaging format for Asda’s laundry capsules, moving from a plastic tub to a cardboard box, leading to the removal of 105 trucks off the roads annually.

Responsible Business Fundamentals

  • Announced an £80m investment in retail pay to increase hourly rates for store-based colleagues to £12.60 this year – taking its total investment in retail pay to more than half a billion since 2021.

  • Raised over £8.9m for Tickled Pink breast cancer campaign – the largest amount in a single year – and £3.9m for BBC Children In Need.

  • Over £3.2m of Asda Foundation grants were awarded to 2,797 community groups

Zero Waste

  • 87.7% of operational waste reused, recycled or redistributed with no waste to landfill – an improvement from 86.7% in 2023, towards the target of 90% by end of 2025.

  • In a UK supermarket first, Asda launched the sale of refurbished TVs – supporting the retailer’s environmental strategy and circular economy goals by extending product life and incorporating recycled materials

Helen Selby, General Counsel and Company Secretary at Asda, said: “Our ESG report highlights how Asda delivers value beyond price. We’ve made progress towards reducing emissions, improving packaging recyclability, and supporting causes our customers care about. Our ambition is to continue to be a business that improves every day and provides ever better support to the communities we serve.”

Read the 2024 ESG report here

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