Sainsbury’s to improve sustainability with 20 ambitious challenges

Sainsbury’s have launched an ambitious plan to dramatically reduce their environmental impact by 2020. Supermarket Sainsbury’s have made a £1 billion pledge to improve their sustainability throughout the company by 2020. Charlotte Reid takes a look at the supermarket giant.

The ’20 by 20′ Sustainability Plan, which was launched in early October, sets out 20 challenges for the company. These range from reducing the amount of packaging they use to doubling the amount of British food they sell in store.

Sainsbury’s also plan to have hit sales of £1 billion on fair trade products by working towards getting 100% of their instant coffee, rice, chocolate and other products, to be Fair trade.

They also want to improve the community, with Sainsbury’s aiming to create 50,000 new jobs in the UK from now until the end of this plan.

Justin King, Sainsbury’s chief executive, thinks the scheme lays out “the most ambitious sustainability targets in our industry”.

“We do not see this plan as a luxury, it is rather, an essential investment that will ensure we can continue to provide customers with quality food at fair prices, sustainably,” King added.

Praise for Sainsbury’s came from Prime Minister David Cameron who said: “It is a great example of the principles of Every Business Commits – helping to create jobs and growth whilst also tackling our shared social and environmental challenges, investing in their workforce and in our communities, and building a bigger, stronger society.”

A number of supermarkets are making commitments to improve their sustainability for the future. Recently Tesco announced ‘the F Plan’, which involves reducing their costs, environmentally and financially, by filling their delivery trucks with more goods and driving more efficiently.