Sainsbury’s has today announced its intention to plant two million trees over the next five years. The supermarket made the announcement today as it launched its 2010 corporate responsibility report.
The commitment is part of a new strategy, which sets out all the ways in which Sainsbury’s contributes to the protection and regeneration of the world’s trees. This pledge is part of Sainsbury’s Corporate Responsibility values, in particular "Sourcing with Integrity" and "Respect for Our Environment" and will help to ensure we have a healthy and sustainable source of trees for future generations.
Chief executive, Justin King, said: "Trees are at the centre of our food chain, so if we are to continue selling food of the variety and quality that we do, it is vital that we think long-term and protect a key raw material.
"We feel that we have led the way in this regard through our Woodland initiative on eggs, chicken and now turkey, our commitment to FSC certified products as well as our leadership in sourcing certified sustainable palm oil.
"This new strategy will help us to focus on trees as a single issue and ensure that we remain industry leaders in preserving the UK and the world’s forests for future generations."
Sue Holden, Chief Executive of The Woodland Trust said "The Woodland Trust's “More Trees, More Good” campaign aims to encourage lots of individuals and organisations to plant more trees. We really value our partnership with Sainsbury's and we're delighted that they are setting a leading example by pledging to plant a further 2m trees."
The "Sustainabili-tree" - strategy is divided into three separate areas:
Plant new trees to ensure that we are doing our bit to increase forest cover. Preserve existing trees by setting stretching targets for FSC timber and RSPO certified sustainable palm oil conversions. Conserve raw materials by reducing the amount of packaging we use and stepping up our commitment to recycling.
Plant:
Sainsbury’s will plant two million trees over the next five years. The majority will be planted through its work with the Woodland Trust via the sale of Woodland eggs and chicken and the Active Kids scheme. The company has already planted almost 250,000 trees through the Trust and expects this to grow each year.
Sainsbury’s will also plant trees indirectly through its woodland farmers who have so far planted 600,000 trees on their farms all over the UK.
Sainsbury’s is also taking part in a number of projects that will increase the number of trees planted by a further 500,000, such as its concept orchards, which increase the number of apple-yielding trees per acre.
Preserve:
Sainsbury’s has been a key supporter of FSC certified timber products for 5 years. All of Sainsbury’s tissue, toilet roll, kitchen towels, garden furniture, Christmas cards and wrapping paper is currently FSC certified, meaning that any timber used is replaced through the planting of new trees.
In addition, Sainsbury’s is committed to using only certified sustainable palm oil in its own brand products by 2014.
Conserve:
The new strategy also places an emphasis on ensuring that the company uses as small an amount of resource as possible. This is why Sainsbury’s has set the most stretching target in the industry for packaging reduction, aiming to reduce it by a third by 2015 (against a 2009 baseline).
As part of this announcement Sainsbury’s set up a unique tree house store in Hainault Forest, which was used to showcase to local primary school children that many of the everyday products they use come from sustainable tree sources.Notes to editors
For media enquiries contact:
Alex Claydon in the Woodland Trust Press Office, on 0845 293 5691 or 0845 293 5605, email: alexclaydon@woodlandtrust.org.uk
The Woodland Trust:
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. It has 300,000 members and supporters.
The Trust has three key aims: i) to enable the creation of more native woods and places rich in trees ii) to protect native woods, trees and their wildlife for the future iii) to inspire everyone to enjoy and value woods and trees
Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). Access to its sites is free.