Sainsbury's

The Supply Chain Gets Greener

Sainsbury's approach to environmental management started many years ago, resulting in us being the first retailer to produce an Environment report. Since then we have built on our history of solid corporate social responsibility – ranging from working in partnership with our farmers through to our most recent work on Fairtrade.

One of our famous five principles is "Respect for Our Environment". Clearly by its very nature our supply chain is very significant in Sainsbury's impact on the environment, and by the same token it is where we can make a real difference.

We are committed in the supply chain therefore to applying the "Respect for Our Environment" principle to all of our business decisions. As part of this our new depot in Northampton has become an iconic example of how business and the environment can succeed together.

Our Northampton depot is part of "Making Sainsbury's Great Again", ensuring our network can accommodate our sales increase whilst maintaining the service our customers expect in a sustainable manner.

Northampton is the world's first Planet PositiveTM building, created to have as little impact on the planet as possible. Working with our suppliers, each step of construction has been measured for carbon emissions producing a carbon footprint for the building. Each element of the construction has then been reduced resulting in the overall carbon footprint to be the lowest of any depot of its type.  

But we have gone further. We will be offsetting the remaining footprint by 110% by investing in a series of sustainable projects that produce real carbon reductions around the world.   

So why did we do it?

With annual sales rising at over 5% over the last few years it was clear that Sainsbury's was on the road to recovery. Supply Chain's role is to enable that growth, not limit it. Therefore, we began addressing the ideal location for a new depot to meet the future needs of the business.  

By far the most important factor in placing a new depot is its location relative to our stores. We call this "best fit", an approach that not only minimises mileage, time and fuel, but also has the least environmental impact. This is important because Sainsbury's heritage of corporate responsibility remains central to our business strategy.

So what does being the greenest depot really mean?

Carbon foot printing- a world first for a depot

We believe the site will have 20% less embodied carbon than a comparable building.   For example:

• pre-fabrication has reduced site work and lessened wastage, as well as challenging materials suppliers use to reduce their own carbon footprints;  
• recycled aggregates for car parks and floor slabs ensured that we could reduce the carbon embodied in the site; and
• all visitors and workers record their modes of transport and mileage to the site as part of the calculations of the total construction footprint.  

The information is used to produce a carbon footprint of the building, something never undertaken in the industry in such detail. The CO2 that cannot be eliminated (c.16,000 tonnes – final figures will be available on completion) will be offset by at least 110% through investment in a series of sustainable projects.  

Energy efficiency - carbon management in operation

In an industry first, the site has its own combined heat, cooling and power unit (CHCP) that provides a significant proportion of depot electricity through use of waste heat to keeps the building warm in winter but which can also cool the building in summer.   

Other initiatives include: a day-lit roof minimising artificial lighting, computer controlled building management system which ensures that plant only operates when needed, and increased air tightness that considerably cuts the amount of building heating. A solar wall will generate heat by trapping the sun's energy and south facing walls have been constructed as solar collectors, virtually eliminating the need for frost protection heating.

The depot has the UK's largest rainwater collection and recycling system to reduce cleaning and toilet water by 50% saving 14 million litres per year, which is the equivalent to 6 Olympic swimming pools. We have also fitted reduced water use taps and flushes, which combined with rainwater harvesting will significantly reduce our use of public water resources.

Another European first is in Sainsbury's trialling the Dragon Power System. This captures the kinetic energy of vehicles moving over plates in the road to initiate a series of pumping actions to turn a generator. The depot will produce approximately 720,000Kwh a year, up to 2% of the annual electricity requirement.  

Food miles

When the depot is fully commissioned we will reduce kilometres travelled by 2 million against our stem kilometers. The reductions at Northampton equate to nearly 1,800 tonnes of C02. A significant contribution to our goal of reducing total kilometres travelled of 5 million by 2010.   Northampton will help reduce average journeys from our other sites, e.g. Hams Hall depot's average journey distances will be reduced from 132 kilometres to 117 kilometres.

What and how we buy - Sustainable procurement

Within the fit out phase we have included numerous specifications such as low toxicity wall paint & double-sided printer settings. Mechanical handling equipment has been specified to high environmental standards e.g. high frequency charging which reduces energy required for battery re-charging.

The vehicle fleet will be new and specified to Euro V standard, ahead of legislation. This reduces particulates significantly and nitrous oxides by 40% compared with Euro IV. We estimate each vehicle to use c.3,000 litres less fuel per annum 5-6% better than the rest of our network. We will also fit anti spill devices to prevent spills at refuelling, an initiative awarded last year for its contribution to reduction in diesel spills.

Furthermore, all Northampton vehicles will be fitted with a number of low noise features including, automatic radio cut off, directional white noise reversing bleepers and low noise suspension as standard. All to reduce the noise-impact at stores in communities that Northampton will serve.

On-going management

Within a year of operation the site will apply for ISO14001 accreditation to ensure it has the appropriate management processes in place to maximise the facilities provided in its design and keep up with emerging opportunities.  

What have been the greatest challenges?

The real challenge around trying to improve the environmental performance of any project is understanding what is possible. Much of the technology and processes are new and highly complex.

Whilst we have made a start, we expect the industry to follow. We also need to spread what we have learnt throughout Sainsbury's to better understand our full corporate footprint.

Contact details

Morag Robertson
Environment Manager for Supply Chain
2nd Floor, Holborn, London

Tel: (+44) 20 7695 5420

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