Boots beats recycling goals, withholds water figures

A newly released CSR report from Alliance Boots - the company behind Boots pharmacies - shows drastic improvements in waste and recycling rates, but an absence of data regarding water consumption.


For the year ending 31 March 2014, Boots recycled nearly 70% of its waste; a-year-on-year increase of 19.5%. The Nottingham-based firm also reduced its total waste by 2.85%, producing just over 70,000 tonnes of rubbish. (Scroll down for full CSR report).

Removing cardboard wedges from home delivery packages saved over 60 tonnes of cardboard alone.

Last year, Alliance Boots identified recycling as a priority for 2014, with a stated goal of each principal business within the group recycling at least 50% of its waste.

Energy

Boots reported more modest results in CO2 production, where total emissions fell by 1.6% to 420,000 tonnes.The saving was driven by a reduction in energy use, thanks to ‘a milder winter in Europe and energy efficiency projects in many of our businesses’.

The largest of these projects was a £30m upgrade of refrigeration units. The 2,500 new units are 40% more energy efficient and also help to reduce food waste through better temperature controls.

Water

Boots was less forthcoming with information regarding its water consumption, simply stating that ‘Water usage in our Health & Beauty and Pharmaceutical Wholesale Divisions is modest’.

Boots is currently involved in an upcoming merger with American drugs store chain Walgreens to create the ‘first global pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing enterprise’. This is likely to lead to a re-evaluation of the company’s environmental performance, which could mean additional details on water consumption figures and sustainability tarets going forward.

REPORT: Boots CSR update 2013-14 

 

Brad Allen

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