At the annual meeting of the Retail Forum, in which ICSC participated, European retailers signed a voluntary environmental code of conduct committing to a set of principles and measures aimed at reducing their environmental footprint.
These include increasing the resource efficiency in stores, optimizing transport and distribution, putting in place better waste management practices and improving communication to consumers. Signatories agree to report on their progress, for instance through their annual corporate sustainability report.
The forum presented the Retail Environmental Sustainability Code to EU Environment commissioner, Janez Potocnik. More than 20 major retailers and retail associations have already signed the code of conduct, a measure supported by the Council of the European Union in its December 2008 conclusions. ICSC is working with retailers in the forum to identify common actions that can improve the environmental footprint of stores.
Source: ICSC
