Loblaw reduces food waste sent to landfill by more than 85%, surpassing initial target five years ahead of schedule

Company donates enough surplus food to provide over 1.3 million meals to Canadians and prevent the release of over 3 million kg of greenhouse gases

BRAMPTON, ON, Sept. 23, 2021 /CNW/ - Today, Loblaw Companies Ltd. (Loblaw) Executive Chairman and President, Galen G. Weston, reiterated the company's commitment to reducing food waste:

The last year and a half has given us all a new perspective on things we may have taken for granted. For lots of us, that includes the food on our tables each day. But here in Canada and abroad, far too many people remain food insecure, wondering where their next meal will come from. Just as upsetting is that this happens at the same time as food is being sent to landfill in staggering quantities. In Canada alone, we waste enough food each year to feed every single one of the 37 million of us for almost five months. It can't continue, and so as the stores that fill more Canadian fridges than any other, we've taken action.

These days, so much of our lives is about doing things differently. Finding creative solutions to get us back to a new, better normal. And to see that energy help solve the food waste challenge that's been around for far too long is inspiring.

In an email sent to PC Optimum members, Weston highlights a handful of innovative programs and strategic partnerships that the company credits with its success to date - reducing food waste sent to landfill across its corporate retail operations by 86 per cent, far surpassing its goal of 50% by 2025 from a 2016 baseline:

• No Name Naturally Imperfect products: an entire product line that saves perfectly good fruit and vegetables that are small or misshapen from the landfill and is sold to customers at a great price.
• Second Harvest: a long-standing partnership that has helped facilitate the donation of enough surplus food to provide over 1.3 million meals to Canadians and prevent more than 3 million kilograms of greenhouse gases from being released if that food had gone to the landfill.
• Bakery Waste: the company has diverted more than 4.2 million kilograms of expired bakery waste from the landfill and converted it into animal feed for local farms.
• ZooShare Biogas: an innovative partnership that combines food waste from Loblaw and other partners with animal manure from the local zoo to produce biogas that generates renewable electricity fed directly into the grid.

As the majority of food waste occurs in the home, the company also aims to educate and empower its customers to join in their efforts, offering a number of resources, including a docuseries, Half Full, where Canadian chefs show how we can all cut down on waste by using every part of our vegetables.  

To read the email in its entirety, please visit: https://www.loblaw.ca/en/stopping-waste-from-field-to-fork and for more information on what Loblaw is doing to reduce food waste, please visit: https://www.loblaw.ca/en/responsibility.

About Loblaw Companies Limited: Loblaw is Canada's food and pharmacy leader, and the nation's largest retailer. Loblaw's purpose – Live Life Well^® – puts first the needs and well-being of Canadians who make one billion transactions annually in the company's stores which provide grocery, pharmacy, health and beauty, apparel, general merchandise, financial services and wireless mobile products and services. With more than 2,400 corporate, franchised and Associate-owned locations, Loblaw, its franchisees and Associate-owners employ more than 190,000 full- and part-time employees, making it one of Canada's largest private sector employers.

SOURCE Loblaw Companies Limited