Transport
Our goal is to transport products more efficiently, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions from employee and customer travel.
Our vehicle fleet is the backbone of our business, transporting products between our depots and stores. We also transport some products to depots on behalf of our suppliers, where this promotes efficiency and saves costs.
We recognise the need to minimise the environmental impacts – global warming and local air pollution – associated with our transport fleet. We can do this by improving the efficiency of our distribution systems (measured in kilometres travelled per product sold), and by improving engine efficiency (measured in emissions per kilometre), using alternative fuels and alternative modes of transport.
Performance in 2004/05
Our target was to reduce the distance travelled by our vehicle fleet by 5% on 2001/02 levels by March 2005, whilst ensuring availability of our products.
Carbon dioxide generated from transport
We are gradually renewing our vehicle fleet and are using this opportunity to switch to more efficient engines.
Continuous regenerative traps are being fitted to vehicle exhausts. This reduces emissions of air pollutants including carbon monoxide, particulates and hydrocarbons. Over 10% of our fleet vehicles are now fitted with these traps.
We have investigated gas as an alternative fuel to petrol and diesel. But so far we have been unable to find a manufacturer that can offer the power we need or could convert our existing engines. Currently the engines on the market are suited only to lighter loads.
We have tested LPG in the smaller vans for Sainsbury's To You home delivery, but the fuel is not widely available. We also found that the mileage achieved was only about a third of what we achieve with diesel, and maintenance costs were higher. This is disappointing as gas vehicles can attract grants and have lower vehicle excise duty. They are also exempt from the London Congestion Charge. Environmentally, they are quieter as well as cleaner.
We hope to be the first to run trials on gas-powered trucks when they come on to the market. In the meantime we are exploring other alternative technologies and fuels, including gas-fuelled tractors, a bio-diesel blend fuel, a diesel fuel mix, refrigeration units on trailers powered by hydrogen fuel cells, and transporting products by water and rail.
We have established Green Travel Plans at 45 stores (including all our new stores) to reduce car travel, encouraging colleagues to come to work on public transport. Some of these plans also aim to increase travel options for customers, for example by displaying timetable and bus information at our stores.
Food miles
Global sourcing enables us to stock fresh produce all year round and offer consumers more choice. But we understand concerns about the environmental impact of food miles – the distance food is transported.
We are looking for ways to increase the proportion of products sourced from the UK while still ensuring we offer customers the products they want. We estimate that 90% of the food that can be grown in this country we source domestically. For example, we are working with salad, fruit and vegetable suppliers to:
- develop UK sourcing, and learn how to take foreign varieties and grow them in the UK
- extend growing seasons by using different varieties, growing techniques, and storage conditions
- consolidate shipments from small suppliers to improve transport efficiencies.
Our supplier development programme helps promote local sourcing and reduce food miles. For example, we have worked with Sparkypac, our major vegetable and salad supplier in Northern Ireland, for the past nine years, bringing local produce to our stores in Northern Ireland and reducing the amount of food imported from mainland UK.
See Supporting British farmers for other examples.
