Waste Management

ABOUT OUR WASTE MANAGEMENT

Our approach to recycling and reducing waste generally is to adopt the following prioritisation: Reduce, Re-use, Rework, Recycle.

Last year we set recycling targets and communicated them to our colleagues through site huddles and Company-wide communications. Our partner, Biffa, conducts ten store audits a year and feeds back the results to store managers at their area meetings, with recommended actions. This year we identified the opportunity to improve the disposal of our food waste, and to improve our management of less than perfect stock by selling at a discount, rather than sending it for recycling or disposal.

All operational sites have cardboard balers, and all sites have colour-coded bins to segregate waste for recycling. Our distribution centres in Stoke recover and process our product packaging from our distribution centre and store operations (cardboard and polypropylene) for recycling. We have dry mixed recycling collections from our sites for paper, plastic bottles and cans, which are then sorted and recycled offsite. We also recycle wooden pallets and metal fixtures. All electrical waste is recycled through a WEEE compliant scheme. We also work with over 100 charity partners nationwide to donate ex-display or less-than-perfect quilts and pillows that cannot be sold to customers.

Food waste from our cafes and any remaining waste that is not sorted for recycling within the business is sent offsite for further sorting, and wherever possible is sent to an energy from waste-generation facility.

UPDATE ON ACTIVITIES 2019/20

• Continued to improve recycling performance aiming towards 100% landfill diversion over the medium term.
• Improved compliance in stores and in our Stoke distribution centres by continuing our in-store training and communications campaigns.
• Our recycling partner Biffa attended area meetings to highlight opportunities to reduce waste sent to landfill, focusing on better management of food waste, and less-than-perfect stock. This work was interrupted by Covid-19 store closures but will be relaunched in FY21.
• We set up working groups in our Stoke operations to review waste management opportunities, we will continue this in FY21 and set targets for that site.