Environment

We are committed to tackling a wide range of issues from reducing packaging to making green choices easier and more affordable for our customers.

Waste, packaging and recycling

Tesco Ireland uses 1.5 million green trays in its distribution chain We aim to reduce own-brand packaging by 25% by 2010 Tesco Ireland eliminated 36 tonnes of secondary packaging in 2007 75% of our in-store waste will be recycled by the end of 2008

We are committed to cutting as much waste as we can and to helping our customers to do the same. Together, we can make the little changes that make a big difference.

Our Environmental Strategy sets us the target of becoming the first Irish retailer to reach 100% recycling of tertiary packaging and store waste by 2010.

To help us reach this target we are working with waste and recycling provider Veolia Environmental Services, which looks after the recycling of our cardboard, plastic and paper, bottles, cans, office waste paper and food waste.

Tesco Ireland is now a binless working environment. And we recycle over 64% of waste from our stores – and aim to increase this to 75% by 2008.

By mid-2008, all of our short-dated food products will be recovered for animal feed and pet food rather disposing them in landfills.

What you can do

Recycling is a key issue for our customers. And Tesco Ireland aims to make recycling an important part of the customer’s shopping trip by providing accessible recycling points at our stores.

Bring banks

Tesco Ireland is the country's largest provider of Bring Centre recycling banks for consumers. We support the Rehab recycling scheme by providing bottle banks where consumers can bring bottles, jars and other waste glassware for recycling.

Some of our stores also provide consumers with facilities to recycle waste plastics and clothing.

And we continue to work in partnership with local authorities to improve and extend these facilities at our stores.

Mobile phones and inkjet cartridges

Last year, we collected and recycled 9,233 units of mobile phones and inkjet cartridges. This resulted in over €20,315 being raised for our Charity of the Year.

Recycling your old mobile and inkjet cartridges is as simple as picking up a special recycling envelope at Tesco. You will also find a recycling envelope inside every Tesco Mobile phone and SIM pack.

We’ll give you Green Clubcard Points for being greener, or you can ask us to make a donation to our Charity of the Year for you. Green Clubcard Points are the same as Clubcard Points. We call them green because the way you collect them helps the environment in some way.

Whenever you recycle a working mobile phone, you can choose to collect 500 Green Clubcard points or ask us to donate €5 to our Charity of the Year on your behalf.

For a phone that does not turn on, you will still receive 100 Green Clubcard Points or you can choose to donate €1 to our Charity of the Year.

You can also collect 100 Green Clubcard Points whenever you recycle certain brands of old inkjet cartridges or choose to donate €1 to our Charity of the Year. By recycling these cartridges, we can reduce the amount of harmful waste going to landfill sites.

Batteries

We have run a trial scheme to collect customers' used batteries in store by providing dedicated recycling tubes for household batteries. This scheme will be rolled out nationwide during 2008.

WEEE products

Tesco Ireland accepts WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) products from consumers free of charge. Take-back is on a one-to-one basis. In other words, the appliance being returned needs to be of similar type or have performed the same function as the new item purchased.

Customers are required to show a receipt on return of the WEEE product. Also, under the regulations, the older item must be returned within 15 days of purchase.

Tesco Ireland, in cooperation with WEEE Ireland, is committed to hosting Tesco/WEEE Recycling Days at a number of stores nationwide this year.

Tesco Tullamore recycling WEEE products

Case study: Recycling Day at Tesco Maynooth

We held our first Tesco/WEEE Recycling Day at our Maynooth store in November 2007. The event resulted in the collection of over 40 tonnes of WEEE which may otherwise have gone to landfill. Items collected included: 343 washing machines 159 fridges and freezers 15 tonnes of televisions and monitors (1,200 items) Two tonnes of redundant PCs, laptops, printers and scanners. A 45-foot container weighing 8.8 tonnes was filled to capacity with small domestic appliances recycled This material was collected by WEEE Ireland’s contract partners KMK Recycling. It was mainly processed in Ireland, with some secondary material further recycled in Britain and mainland Europe. None of the material collected by WEEE Ireland is transported to Asia or Africa. There is a genuine interest among the general public to recycle their electrical waste in an environmentally-friendly manner. In fact, Ireland is well ahead of our target as set by the EU, and we are delighted to be hosting more Tesco/WEEE Recycling Days across the country this year.