Installation of solar panels on a Loblaw store
Chosen as one of Canada's Greenest Employers for 2013:
By Richard Yerema and Julien Gagnier, Mediacorp Canada Inc. staff editors
(Apr 21, 2013)
Some of the reasons why Loblaw Companies Limited was selected as one of Canada's Greenest Employers (2013):
- building on 20 years of the popular President's Choice GREEN products, the national retailer offers over 80 products (from food to stationary to diapers to pet accessories), the longstanding product line makes it easy for individual Canadians to reduce their own environmental impact
- in partnership with the Marine Stewardship Council, the grocer manages an impressive sustainable seafood commitment to ensure that all seafood sold in its stores is sourced from sustainable sources by the end of 2013 -- the retailer has even gone beyond the stated minimums to ensure that its program encompasses any product (over 2,500) that contains seafood (from pet food to dietary supplements)
- has installed rooftop solar panel arrays on four store locations in Ontario as part of the province's Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) program -- combined the four rooftop arrays generated over 220,000 kilowatt hours of solar energy last year, enough to power approximately 23 homes
- also boasts a flagship store in Toronto that has been constructed to Leadership and Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, utilizing motion-activated lighting in coolers, state-of-the-art low-temperature refrigerant for coolers and reclaiming waste heat energy for heating the store -- and constructed its Surrey distribution centre to LEED standards, with accreditation also underway
- has diverted 60 percent of its corporate store waste from the landfill (and a 78% diversion rate from its distribution centres) -- achieved through a variety of initiatives, including: cardboard and waxed cardboard recycling, e-waste recycling, redirecting used cooking oil for use as biodiesel; composting of organic waste (onsite) and the subsequent production of methane gas for use as an energy source; and reduced plastic bag use in favour of reusable and the branded "PC Green" reusable boxes (reducing plastic shopping bags by 3.8 billion bags since 2007), and introduced a return program that has collected 4.1 million pounds of returned plastic flower pots since 2008
- is also standardizing its in-house plastic packaging boxes to ensure use of recyclable PET plastic packaging wherever possible
- the company and its employees are strong supporters of a number of environmentally-focused initiatives, including the World Wildlife Federation's National Sweater Day and the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-up, the November "Waste Reduction Week" challenge, and the annual Earth Week -- the company donated $50,000 on behalf of its employees last year
- has sought to lessen the environmental impact of its considerable shipping operations, reducing overall fuel consumption by 2 percent since 2010 through a variety of measures, including reducing idling times, tire capping, new vehicle upgrades, and moving to rail transport where possible
Background Information
Major Canadian hiring locations: Brampton ON.
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