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Environmental Stewardship
Environmental Sustainability
At SUPERVALU®, we have a responsibility to minimize our environmental footprint and are committed to honoring our pledge as environmental stewards. All of our business units and operations teams consistently work to identify and support business initiatives that are environmentally-friendly, ranging from promoting customer involvement in the company’s recycling programs to further reducing energy usage in our stores and offices.
We are committed to environmental stewardship and sustainable operations and will continually work to use energy more efficiently and reduce waste – all in the name of sustainability.
We invite all our customers to join with us in our commitment to protecting the environment through responsible use of our natural resources.
SUPERVALU’s ValuEarth™ Council
SUPERVALU has long been a leader in protecting the environment. In addition to promoting customer involvement in the company’s recycling programs and further reducing energy usage in our stores and offices, SUPERVALU’s environmental stewardship council, ValuEarth™, studies, recommends and oversees ways in which the company can minimize its environmental footprint.
Partnership Efforts
SUPERVALU is active in Food Marketing Institute’s (FMI’s) Sustainability Task Force, FMI’s Energy and Technical Services Committee and recently joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership Program, a voluntary program to promote green technologies, strategies and practices that protect the ozone layer and reduce greenhouse gases. By signing the GreenChill Partnership pledge, SUPERVALU has expanded its environmental stewardship efforts by:
- Using only non-ozone-depleting refrigerants in all commercial refrigeration applications in new construction and store remodels involving rack additions or replacements;
- Reducing emissions of ozone-depleting and greenhouse gas refrigerants every year; and
- Participating in an industry/government research initiative to assess the performance of advanced technologies.
For more information on the GreenChill program, visit the U.S Environmental Protection Agency’s Web site.
Recycling and Waste Reduction
- Recycled tons of waste include:
- 270,904 tons of cardboard (OCC)
- 4,443 tons of plastic (shrink wrap and customer-returned shopping bags)
- SUPERVALU and its banner stores participate in a special, eco-friendly recycling program which converts plastic bags into composite lumber for benches. Last year, SUPERVALU banner stores converted 3,900 recycled plastic bags to composite lumber, purchased 82 composite lumber benches and donated them to local parks and schools.
- 429 million beverage containers were returned to SUPERVALU stores as part of facilitation-in-state rebate programs
- 216,639,487 beverage containers were returned in Southern California, including:
- 103,431,652 aluminum cans
- 89,407,230 plastic containers
- 23,800,605 glass containers
- 80,096,511 beverage containers were returned in Oregon, including:
- 56,676,890 aluminum cans
- 7,694,026 plastic containers
- 15,725,595 glass containers
- 132,422,053 beverage containers were returned in New England, including:
- 81,135,324 aluminum cans
- 36,436,869 plastic containers
- 14,832,333 glass containers
- Select SUPERVALU banner stores participate in a special produce extractor project that involves a device which removes liquid waste from the produce waste stream and reduces the volume and weight of waste sent to landfills.
- 81 Acme, Albertsons, Jewel-Osco and Shaw’s stores participated in the project
- Select SUPERVALU banner stores recycle through compost efforts
- Albertsons stores in Seattle turned their store compactors into compost containers which are filled and removed from the stores weekly
- Select Acme stores in Pennsylvania fill compost totes that are collected on a daily basis and are converted into high-grade soil
- Select Shaw’s stores in the Northeast have partnerships with farmers to utilize store produce waste for animal feed
- SUPERVALU banner stores offer customers reusable bags as an eco-friendly solution to the ongoing paper or plastic issue.
- Nearly 2 million bags were purchased during 2007
Energy Conservation
- Between 2000 and 2007, SUPERVALU invested $95.2 million in capital on energy projects which saved over 340 million kilowatts of energy per year.
- SUPERVALU designs all of its new stores with low energy white thermoplastic polyolefins (TPO) roofing systems, many of which have skylights.
- All new blue, green, and red store signage encompasses use of LED lighting, which uses 20 percent less energy than traditional neon signs.
- SUPERVALU is implementing low energy LED Lighting, which translates into a:
- Reduction in energy of over 50 percent with a life expectancy of up to 100,000 hours
- Reach-in frozen food cases
- Reach-in medium temp cases
- Exterior wall packs and back room lighting
- Reduction in energy of over 50 percent with a life expectancy of over 50,000 hours
- Dock lighting
- Spot Lighting
- Walk-in freezer and cooler boxes
- SUPERVALU is experimenting with the installation of roof-mounted solar power collection systems for some stores and testing green roofs in select facilities.
Initiatives
- SUPERVALU is active in Food Marketing Institute’s (FMI’s) Sustainability Task Force and FMI’s Energy and Technical Services Committee.
- SUPERVALU designed and built its first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) store in Worcester, Mass. The store opened in January 2005 and was the second LEED certified grocery store in the country.
- SUPERVALU has a senior manager of recycling/sustainable operations dedicated to initiating and managing key environmental activities across the company.
- Several SUPERVALU banner stores sponsor earth-friendly holiday activities in many of our divisions including initiatives and projects to celebrate Earth Day.
Awards and Accolades
- 2006 Excellence Award, Awarded by Environmental Support Solutions, Inc.
- 2006 Excellence in Energy Star Outreach Award, Awarded by the EPA to Acme
- 2004 Promise to the Earth Award, National Arbor Day Foundation
- 2004 America’s Marketplace Recycles! Award, International Council of Shoppers Centers
- 2004 Summit Award Finalist, University of Colorado LEEDS School of Business
- 2003 First Energy Star Store in Minnesota, Cub Foods, Blaine, Minn.