Canadian Retailer - Fall 2014 - 14

thE coNSumER

As consumers are increasingly considering
the environmental impact of their purchases,
demand for 'green' products and services has
finally reached a tipping point. Retailers can't
afford to only pay lip service to 'green retail'.
Green matters to consumers, and retailers
must pay attention or be left behind. Indeed, as
awareness of green consumers and the opportunity they bring grows, many new businesses-many of them online niche business-have
sprung up, vying to capture wallet share by
targeting customers that heretofore shopped
at traditional retailers.
However, many leading retail chains recognize that sustainability presents an opportunity to speak to the core values of customers
while expanding their offering. An interesting case study demonstrates how demand for
'green' can actually drive retail innovation.
Clear plastic containers are a food industry
staple, protecting and displaying everything
from berries and salads to eggs, tomatoes, and
baked goods. These containers are known as
thermoformed packaging, and represent one of
the fastest growing container categories on the
market. To the average consumer these packaging materials all look the same, but they're
not. Some containers are made from a clear,
crystalline form of polystyrene, others from
PolyEthylene Terephthalate (PET), which is also
used for plastic bottles. Mixed together, they're
of little use as raw materials for new products-
but unfortunately, most municipal sorting centres lack the technology to tell the difference.
Stewardship Ontario wanted to address that.
In partnership with Retail Council of Canada
(RCC), recycling experts, and some of the
country's leading grocery chains, they sought
out ways to put more PET in Blue Boxes to reduce landfill, feed industry demand for bales
of this easily recyclable material, and reduce
greenhouse emissions (post-consumer PET
produces only one-tenth the greenhouse gas
required to create new resin from fossil fuels).
The program was so successful that in June
2011, Loblaw, Sobeys, Metro, Walmart and
Canada Safeway announced that they would
accept only PET containers from their suppliers so they could be recycled with soft drink
bottles. The group also teamed up with the
National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) to source a label adhesive that's easy to remove during the recycling
process in order to ensure uncontaminated recycled materials for resale.
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cANADIAN REtAILER | fall 2014

A great achievement. Something Evans says
deserves recognition.
"Retailers are doing an excellent job of being
'green' and reducing their collective impact on
the environment. For some, it's now simply a
matter of educating consumers about their
initiatives and the product choices they offer
for those who are more environmentally-conscious," asserts Evans. "Consumers are timestarved. They may not take the time to stop
and read packaging or signage. So it's important for retailers to effectively communicate
their 'green' efforts with their customers. This
requires sales people talking it up."
Paying off at the till

sales increase for companies that included
sustainability claims on
their packaging versus
those that didn't

Average sales jump
for companies that
promote sustainability
through marketing

Nielsen global study

In truth, retailers need to do a lot better in a
number of ways when it comes to 'green' practices. In June 2010, Industry Canada, in cooperation with Supply Chain & Logistics Canada
(SCL) and RCC released a report titled "Green
Supply Chain Management: Retail Chains and
Consumer Product Goods-A Canadian Perspective." The report noted that contributing firms
were virtually unanimous in their feeling that
Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM)
practices were strategically important.
And why not? The incentives for GSCM are
certainly there.
Green supply Chain Management results in:
* Improved compliance and conformity to recycling
and packaging regulations
* Reduced energy consumption
* Decreased waste
* Decreased packaging
* Creation of a positive image with customers
* Improvement in customer retention
* Attraction of new customers
* Reduced distribution cost
* Greater distribution efficiency

Canadian Retailer - Fall 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - Fall 2014