Greggs has opened its first eco-shop which it described as a ‘test bed’ for future in-store sustainability initiatives.
The shop, in Great Billing, Northampton, is a ‘brand new and bespoke format’ where Greggs will trial initiatives aimed at delivering progress in reducing the environmental impact of the company’s operations.
It forms part of the Greggs Pledge – which was launched just over a year ago and lays out 10 commitments to ‘make the world a better place’ by 2025.
Building shops of the future is one of the goals with a commitment to open the first eco-shop and have 250 other sites featuring elements from this ‘shop of the future’ format by the end of 2022.
Features being trialled this year include recyclable flooring, cistern-less and air assisted toilets, eco-ovens, heat pump air curtains and solar control glass. All initiatives are focused on waste management, water reduction or overall energy reduction, the business said.
Longer term, Greggs has set a target for a quarter of its shop estate to feature eco-shop elements and, with the proposed initiatives, will continue to reduce the carbon footprint across its shops every year, driving the company further towards its Net Zero carbon objective.
“We’re delighted to have launched our first eco shop, in line with our Greggs Pledge and Net Zero commitments,” said Tony Rowson, property director at Greggs.
“As a responsible business we have a duty to our customers and to our planet to change the world for the better. Our new eco-shop format gives us a platform to develop and test solutions to minimise our impact on the environment by cutting our waste, energy and water usage. As we continue to trial new and innovative sustainability initiatives, we look forward to making real progress in our goal to becoming a greener Greggs.”
The business also recently announced that its partnership with Too Good To Go has saved more than one million bags of food from going to waste in the UK.
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