Group Environmental Executive's Statement
This report details our performance in managing key areas of environmental and social accountability and in promoting sustainability during 2004 and 2005 againstthe background of the commitments contained in our Environmental Policy Charter,(this documentwas replaced recently with an expanded Environmental and Social Accountability Policy as outlined below).
We believe thatour reports are a means of demonstrating our commitment to our core values, and to promoting sustainable development whilst also helping us to map our future environmental strategies.Our philosophy is to ensure that sustainability remains a key element on our corporate governance agenda.
We were delighted when our last report won the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) (Ireland) Environmental Reporting Awards in 2004.We were equally pleased to be awarded the 'Best Environmental Project' in the Large Indigenous Company section of the 2005 Chambers of Commerce of Ireland Environmental Awards. We and our Retail partners in Ireland and the UK have also been recognised through a significant number of industry awards in the area of environment, quality management and food safety during the reporting period.
We are again reporting in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Framework, a reflection of our confidence in the GRI and their vision that reporting of economic, environmental and social performance by all organisations will become routine and comparable to financial reporting and because the GRI is committed to continuously improving and building capacity around the use of its Sustainability Reporting Framework and Sustainability Reporting Guidelines.
We have also applied the findings of a very useful and informative stakeholder interview process to 'fine tune' the way in which we have constructed and presented our report, ensuring that those issues,which are relevant and of real concern to our stakeholders are given prominence. We hope you will agree that this makes our report less bulky and easier to read, whilst retaining its transparency, accuracy and attention to detail.
Our business continues to grow significantly both in scale and complexity,but also in terms of its geographical spread. Managing our sustainability performance in areas such as waste management, energy efficiency and ethical trade are challenges for us, but we are approaching these issues in a systematic and thorough way.
During 2005, we undertook a review of our Environmental Policy Charter, which was
originally published in 2000. The development of our broader Environmental and
Social Accountability Policy represents a new milestone in our programme to meet
international best practice in the management of our environmental and social
impacts. In this regard, we continue to focus on issues, which are common
within our sector, inter alia, waste minimisation, energy efficiency, emissions
reduction, natural resource conservation, climate change and the
promotion of ethical trade.
In this reportwe finally 'close-out' our first Environmental Policy Charter and set the scene for how we will implement our new Environmental and Social Accountability Policy in the coming years. During its development we also identified a need for additional documents; our Energy and Natural Resources Management Policy and our Ethical Trading Policy clearly articulate our stance on important issues and provide a basis upon which to develop our future plans. All documents are available on our website at www.musgrave.ie
In the area of Waste Management in the Republic of Ireland, for example, we achieved our 60% waste recycling target in 2004 in our own and our retail partners' facilities. We also met our 62% target for 2005 and are on target to achieve 64% recycling in 2006. Central to the success of our waste management programme has been our unique One-Stop-Shop waste contracts, which enable us to manage the full range of store and facility wastes using approved contractors.
Another key aspect of our strategy is the minimisation of waste at source, through for example projects aimed at reducing amounts of packaging on the products we sell. In the UK we are supporting the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), which aims to promote sustainable waste management practices by increasing resource efficiency and reducing carbon emissions. Through our strategic engagement with WRAP, we have joined many of our industry peers in becoming signatories to the Courtauld commitment. We look forward to reporting progress in this area in future reports.
Energy consumption, particularly electricity use, presents another significant challenge to our organisation in terms of lowering emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. At a time of rapidly rising energy costs coupled with concern regarding global supply, our focus on energy use also makes sound economic sense. During 2004 and 2005 we completed an energy auditing programme in all of our facilities in RoI and NI, following which we have introduced a co-ordinated energy monitoring and targeting programme designed to improve energy efficiency and lower consumption. We are also progressing this activity in our premises in Great Britain.
We continue to focus on reducing the distances travelled by our truck fleets through logistics planning whilst also delivering greater vehicle fuel efficiency through the use of new technology, driver training and incentives.The recent integration of our logistics network in RoI following the opening of our Kilcock facility means that we have 'taken-on' the supply distances previously undertaken by our suppliers. We believe that our expertise in logistics planning will significantly reduce these previously unaccounted distances and provides us with an opportunity to reduce the emissions associated with our business yet further. In Great Britain, similar initiatives are underway, whilst we also recently began trials of bio-diesel in vehicles operating from our Thamesmead distribution centre near London.
Our Ethical Trading Policy is now being communicated and implemented by our trading teams who are in turn making our suppliers aware of our requirements. Our policy was developed in line with the principles of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), to which we are signatories. This reporthas also been drafted to meetthe UNGC's requirement for ongoing 'Communications on Progress (COP) and describes the actions we have taken in support of the Global Compact.
We are indebted again to the many people throughout the organisation for their contribution to our performance and for their assistance in providing information for this report, particularly our Environmental Action Teams and the team at Patel Tonra.
We have asked csrnetwork to audit our report for accuracy and authenticity against the AA 1000 Standard and a copy of their assessment can be viewed here.
We hope that you will find this report interesting and informative. We believe it demonstrates our continuing commitment to our values and to the principles of sustainable development and to identifying and addressing all of our environmental and social impacts and to reporting our performance transparently and honestly. We welcome your views or suggestions at group@musgrave.ie
We look forward to reporting further progress in our next report in 2008.
John Curran,
Musgrave Group Environmental Executive
