Trade like citizens

Our retail stores are all green

We are committed to responsible retailing. That is why we make every effort to reduce the environmental impact of our activities, by managing and sorting our waste, reducing our energy consumption and optimising our transportation. We have a powerful continuous improvement process, which involves all of our business areas!

Action plans are prepared for each stage of our business in order to reduce our waste: 

• In our logistics circuit: with our suppliers and transport providers, we work to optimise packaging while still providing adequate protection for the products shipped.
• In our stores: in 2020, 91% of our stores applied selective sorting and 60% of our waste at our stores and warehouses was sent for recycling. We also encourage our staff to become involved by informing them and training them in waste sorting.
• At our customers: our check-out desk packaging is subject to an environmental procedure (certification or label) designed to reduce its impact and sorting instructions are displayed on the bags we distribute to our customers.

We are reducing our energy consumption for all our activities:

• In our warehouses: we optimise energy efficiency during the design phase of the buildings. This process allowed us to obtain HQE (High Quality Environmental standard) and BREEAM certifications at the most recent warehouse we opened in 2016.
• In our stores: we reduce our consumption by using less energy-intensive lighting (LED), modernising heating, air-conditioning, and ventilation systems, and setting up good environmental practices with the help of our network of CSR referents in stores.
• At our own factory in Mekong: we use less energy intensive equipment, in particular for lighting and drying ovens.
• In our travel and transport: in 2020, 100% of the light vehicles pool was renewed with hybrid or electric vehicles. The traction vehicle pool is also in the process of being upgraded and it is planned to apply the Euro 6 standard.

Aware of the impact of our activities on climate change, we implement a voluntary climate strategy.

In addition to reducing the energy required for our activities, we have integrated renewable energies into our commitment so as to reduce our “direct” greenhouse gas emissions (so-called “Scope 1 & 2” emissions). Thus, more than 97% of our stores, the buildings of our head office in Vertou (44), and the warehouses of our logistics subsidiary Distrimag are powered by 100% renewable energy.

In addition to “direct” emissions, the activities of our suppliers and service providers represent a large percentage of our “indirect” greenhouse gas emissions (so-called “Scope 3” emissions). Therefore, our work today focuses on three main impacts:

• The transport of products: choice of more ecological transport methods, optimisation of loads and logistic flows.
• The environmental footprint of products: measurement of the carbon impact of the products distributed, eco-design, and integration of recycled materials.
• Travel by our customers to our stores: support for the development of soft mobility, stores located as near as possible to customers.

Our commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 was approved in 2019 by the Science Based Target initiative. Discover our commitment here.

In 2017, in order to meet the ambitions of our environmental policy and promote our commitment among our teams and customers, we set up a network of CSR referents in all our stores. This network facilitates the dissemination of our actions among employees and customers and also creates a link between head office's services and staff in the field.

This network of CSR referents, coordinated by the Group’s CSR division, sets up concrete actions that help to reduce the environmental impact of retail outlets, communicate, and share good practices between stores.

This network of CSR referents is operational at all our French stores and the initiative will be introduced at all our stores by 2021.