Asda: Sustainable Development

(asked on 1st December 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with Asda Stores Ltd on making their organisation more sustainable.


Answered by
Rebecca Pow Portrait
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 9th December 2020

All large retailers including Sainsbury’s, Tesco Plc, Asda Stores Ltd, Waitrose and Partners and Marks and Spencer are signed up to a series of resource efficiency programmes we support through our work with the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP).

Courtauld 2025 is a voluntary agreement which works across the food chain with the target to, over ten years, cut carbon and waste in the food sector by one fifth by 2025. By collaborating with WRAP and using its tools, guidance and research, retailers can support their supply chains to be more resource efficient, encourage consumers to reduce their waste, and support third-sector organisations to redistribute more surplus food to those in need.

We are also working with WRAP to encourage efforts to reduce other forms of waste.

The UK Plastics Pact is a collaborative initiative to create a circular system that keeps plastic in the economy and out of the natural environment. Led by WRAP and set up in partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in April 2018, it is a coalition whose members cover the entire plastics value chain, and all of the major supermarkets are members. The Pact brings these organisations together with four key targets for 2025 that aim to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated, which includes action to eliminate problematic or unnecessary single-use plastic packaging items. Our ambitious reforms to overhaul the waste system will support supermarkets in achieving those targets. This includes making producers more responsible for the products they put on the market, starting with reforming the packaging waste regulations, and making recycling simpler for households and businesses.

We also support WRAP with its industry-led voluntary agreement the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan 2020. This focuses on improving the environmental footprint of the clothing sector, with targets on reducing water and carbon footprints, reducing textiles to landfill and reducing waste produced over whole product lifecycle. A new programme, Textiles 2030, was announced on 10 November and has ambitious targets in line with global goals on carbon, water and resource circularity and aims to drive the shift to a more resource-efficient textiles sector in the UK.

We cannot afford to wait to act against the threat of climate change. We must work together to protect our planet and people and ensure a greener, more resilient future for us all. The UK will host the UN climate change conference COP26 with our partners Italy in November 2021 to bring together world leaders to commit to urgent global climate action. We are encouraging all businesses across the UK to play their part and sign up to the Race to Zero.

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