Environmental protection

PRINCIPLE 7: Preventive environmental protection

PRINCIPLE 8: Promoting greater responsibility for the environment

PRINCIPLE 9: Dissemination of environmentally friendly technologies

Commitments and management systems

  • Purchasing policy for sustainable procurement, along with specific purchasing guidelines for fish and seafood, meat, caged eggs, palm oil, paper and wood, soy, packaging and disposable plastic.
  • Use of international standards along the supply chain (GlobalG.A.P., IFS)
  • METRO Environmental guideline
  • METRO Water Policy
  • Energy management systems according to ISO 50001
  • METRO climate protection target: reducing greenhouse gas emissions of the Scope 1 and Scope 2 CO2 emissions by 60% per m2 of selling and delivery space by 2030 compared to 2011 and of absolute Scope 3 CO2 emissions by 15% by 2030 compared to 2018
  • Company car guideline with incentive system for more fuel-efficient vehicles
  • “EV100”(electric vehicle joining commitment) Commitment
  • The Consumer Goods Forum Resolution on Deforestation
  • The Consumer Goods Forum Resolution on Sustainable Refrigeration
  • The Consumer Goods Forum Resolution on Food Waste
  • World Ressource Institute 10x20x30 Commitment
  • Membership in the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
  • Membership in the Palm Oil Transparency Coalition (POTC)
  • Membership in the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS)
  • Membership in the Retailer Cocoa Coalition
  • Membership in the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI)
  • Membership in the Global Tuna Alliance (GTA)
  • Signing of the Tuna 2020 Traceability Declaration
  • Signing of the Cerrado Manifesto Statement of Support
  • Signing of the Ellen MacArthur New Plastics Economy Global Commitment

Measures 2019/20

  • The colour-coding highlights the corresponding measures and achievements
  • Items with this bullet point do not have any corresponding passages
  • Implementing the general buying policy for sustainable procurement and the specific buying guidelines for fish and seafood, meat, caged eggs, palm oil, paper and wood, soy, packaging and disposable plastic as well for the resulting range of certified products or products with enhanced sustainability performance
  • Enhanced impact analysis in METRO Bulgaria with focus on the effects of local products on environment and society
  • Measures for behavioural change (Energy Awareness Programme), investment in energy efficiency and renewable energies (Energy-Saving Programme), changeover of refrigeration systems to natural refrigerants (F-Gas Exit Programme)
  • Recertification and annual check of energy management systems in accordance with ISO 50001 and the environmental management system ISO 14001
  • Engagement with various stakeholders to combat food waste
  • Recovery of resources by recycling
  • Transparent public reporting on climate change, water and forest via the CDP climate change programme, the CDP water programme and the CDP forest programme
  • Participation in the committees Global Tuna Alliance (GTA) und Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI)
  • Participation in the Biodiversity Guidance Navigation Tool (accompanying the Natural Capital Protocol) in cooperation with the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) and the Capitals Coalition

Achievements 2019/20

  • Extending the functionalities of the inter-branch traceability system to combat illegal fishing with more detailed information on the product, production and suppliers, e.g. information on the composition of feed for aquaculture products, average nutritional values and display of certificates
  • Conversion of suppliers of vacuum packed meat and carcasses in METRO Turkey to the GS1-128 barcode label system to present the expiration date, batch number and ear-tag number on the invoice to the customers
  • Strengthen local suppliers and marketing of organic products e.g. in METRO Moldova and METRO Bulgaria by communication campaigns
  • Reduce greenhouse gas emissions per m2 sales and delivery area by 34.3% compared to 2011
  • Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from refrigerant losses per m2 sales and delivery area by 24.4% compared to 2011
  • Reduce electricity consumption per m2 sales and delivery area by 7.9% compared to 2011
  • Investments of € 5.1 million in fiscal year 2019/20, among other within the framework of the Energy Saving Program. Thereby we will save approx. 1.4 million € annually in future energy costs
  • Implementation of the first transcritical refrigeration systems in Slovakia and in further projects in Germany, France, Italy, Belgium and Romania
  • Replacement of the last CFC systems by natural refrigerants in all markets in Russia
  • Installation of 14 additional photovoltaic systems in France, Belgium, Bulgaria, Austria, India and Pakistan, with a total additional capacity of 7,086 kWp
  • Establish 460 charging stations for electric vehicles for METRO customers. 170 employees at the Düsseldorf campus already use electric vehicles as company cars, whose emissions are offset by certificates for hydroelectric power systems.
  • Certification of all METRO locations in Germany until 20 August 2021 and France until 29 April 2021 according to the energy management system ISO 50001
  • Certification of all METRO Ukraine stores according to the environmental management system ISO 14001
  • Cooperation in 22 METRO countries with food banks and social institutions to avoid food waste in the markets including our restaurants and warehouses
  • Cooperation or initiating cooperation in 9 METRO countries with Too Good To Go (TGTG) to reduce food waste in our own operations (wholesale store and restaurant) together with our customers. In the 17 Dutch stores, were sold 46,891 TGTG bags between 1 October 2019 and 30 September 2020 and saving 117,227 kg CO2
  • Cooperation with 20 of METRO’s most important business partners as part of the “10x20x30” initiative, working together to reduce food waste along the supply chain
  • With the implementation of a digital platform, developed by our partner Whole Surplus, METRO Turkey now has a basis methodology for systematically measuring and managaing of food waste in its own business operations while reducing food waste. In the year 2019, 30 METRO wholesale stores in Turkey recorded 5,293 tons of food waste. Of this, 1,247 tons were delivered to animal shelters as animal feed, 3,870 tons were disposed of at landfills and 163.5 tons were donated via the Turkish food bank organization. Between January and June 2020, 2,458 tons of food waste were registered, 654 tons of which were delivered to animal shelters as animal feed, 1,674 tons were disposed of in landfills and 97.7 tons were donated through the Turkish food bank organization.
  • Establishment of 9 waste collection points in METRO Ukraine stores where polyethylene (PET) bottles, glass bottles, aluminum cans, waste paper and Tetra Pak packages are collected and handed over for recycling. On average 100–500 people use the waste collection points per month and each person disposes of 2 to 10 kilograms of secondary raw materials. In this way about 12 tons of secondary raw materials are collected every month.
  • Engagement of 170 suppliers in the CDP supply chain program for water, climate change and forests with up to 59% return rate.
  • Reduce of water consumption per m2 of sales and delivery area by –15% compared to 2011, and by under –6% compared to the previous year
  • Participation at the publication of the GDST (Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability) Traceability Standard 1.0
  • Participation in various international conferences on the topic of Tuna Traceability Declaration and transparency in the supply chain
  • The colour-coding highlights the corresponding measures and achievements
  • Measures with this bullet point do not have any corresponding achievements