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, animal welfare, cage-free 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 guideline
  • 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. Operational climate neutrality by 2040 in our own global business operations, largely through our own efforts.
  • 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 Verpflichtung
  • 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 2020/21

  • 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, cage-free 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. During the reporting period, new guidelines on meat and animal welfare came into force across the Group. The guidelines on single-use plastic and cage-free eggs, our health and nutrition policy and METRO’s packaging targets were updated
  • Behavior change measures (Energy Awareness Programs), investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy (Energy-Saving Programs), and conversion of refrigeration systems to natural refrigerants (F-Gas Exit Programs)
  • Recertification and annual audit of sites according to energy management system ISO 50001 as well as environmental management system ISO 14001
  • Engagement with diverse stakeholders to combat food waste
  • Recovery of resources through recycling
  • Transparent public reporting on climate change, water and forests via CDP Climate, CDP Water and CDP Forest.
  • Participation in the Global Tuna Alliance (GTA) and Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI) committees
  • Collaboration on pilots of the Biodiversity Guidance Navigation Tool (accompanying the Natural Capital Protocol) in cooperation with the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) and the Capitals Coalition

Achievements 2020/21

  • Expansion of the traceability solution to include new suppliers and preparatory measures to extend the solution to additional product categories, such as fruit and vegetables and flour. Deployment of the technical solution for dynamic price adjustment depending on the best-before date (BBD) with the aim of reducing food waste as part of a pilot. In addition, support of in-house production through BBD or lot-based production quantity control
  • Empowering local suppliers and promoting more sustainable products, such as improved packaging and organic products, e.g. in METRO Czech Republic and METRO Germany through communication campaigns
  • Greenhouse gas emissions per m2 of sales and delivery area reduced by 37.3% compared to 2011
  • Greenhouse gas emissions from refrigerant losses per m2 of sales and delivery area reduced by 29.5% compared to 2011
  • Electricity consumption per m2 of sales and delivery area reduced by 39.3% compared with 2011
  • Investments of €4.0 million in fiscal 2020/21 as part of the Energy Saving Program. This will save us around €1.0 million in energy costs per year in the future
  • Investments of €31.8 million in fiscal 2020/21 as part of the F-Gas Exit program for the replacement of refrigeration systems using climate-damaging refrigerants
  • Installation of 14 additional photovoltaic plants in France, India, Italy, Pakistan, Spain and Hungary, with a total additional capacity of 2,976 kWp
  • Installation of 557 charging stations for electric vehicles for METRO customers. At the Düsseldorf campus, 300 employees already use electric vehicles as company cars, the emissions of which are offset via certificates for hydropower plants
  • Certification of all METRO locations in France in fiscal year 2020/21 in accordance with the ISO 50001 energy management system
  • Certification of the Ukraine store in Kiev (Stepana Bandery Avenue) according to the ISO 14001 environmental management system
  • In 22 countries, we work with food bank organizations to pass on unsold food to those in need. In 10 countries, we work with TooGoodToGo for this purpose, also as a solution for our customers. So far, this has “saved” more than 180,000 meals, which corresponds to a saving of 450 tons of CO2
  • METRO is a member of the World Resources Institute’s (WRI) “10x20x30” initiative, which calls on the world’s 10 largest food retailers to commit at least 20 of their suppliers to halving their food waste by 2030, in line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12.3. METRO AG and METRO Turkey have already jointly committed more than 30 suppliers
  • We work with different technical solutions to reduce food waste, depending on availability and need. In Turkey, we are analyzing food waste hotspots and disposal routes with Whole Surplus. In Poland, we are running a Wasteless pilot project using artificial intelligence (AI)-powered technology to price perishables to reduce food waste in our markets.
  • METRO Ukraine is cooperating with a local waste recycling company and social partner to recycle plastics: with the YAPOMOGABOX 3.0, customers can donate to a charity of their choice by placing the plastic bottles to be recycled in a vending machine.
  • Customer information on the recycling and environmental friendliness of private label packaging. Specially developed icons show whether the packaging is made of recycled, certified or degradable material.
  • Publication of METRO’s CDP Climate Questionnaire on their website including TCFD Matrix.
  • Water consumption per m2 of sales and delivery area reduced by −15.9% compared with 2011, and by −1.3% compared with the previous year
  • Collaboration on the publication of the GDST (Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability) traceability standard 1.0
  • Panel participation in various international conferences on the 2025 Pledge towards Sustainable Tuna (25PST) and supply chain transparency.
  • The colour-coding highlights the corresponding measures and achievements
  • Items with this bullet point do not have any corresponding passages