The Musgrave Group is a Distribution and Franchise Business based in Cork. They have an estimated 25% share of the grocery trade in Ireland with 600 retail outlets on the island, 4 distribution Centres and 11 Wholesale Cash & Carry Premises.
There were various Key Environmental Drivers, which prompted Musgrave to take action regarding waste management. These drivers included
- Increasing legislative and statutory requirements,
- Company Values/Reputation,
- Brand differentiation,
- Greater Customer and Public awareness,
- Increasing costs such as:
- Landfill fees,
- Waste management fees,
- Insurance premiums,
- Energy,
- Carbon taxation
In response to this, The Musgrave Group developed an Environmental Policy Charter in which they recognise that:
‘‘Our business activities have an impact on the environment and our primary aim is to reduce this impact and gradually improve our performance”
Prior to the adoption of the Environmental Charter the situation in relation to waste management was as such: there was a high dependence on increasingly expensive landfill, increased regulatory requirements, confusion in relation to Producer Responsibility, no cost-effective management and little or no investment in recycling infrastructure. Added to this were the increasing waste management legal issues and the fact that bad waste practice reflects badly on all brand-holders.
The Musgrave group made a number of waste management commitments i.e. minimise wastes, improve management and cost-control and instil best practice. They initiated various waste management projects in order to meet these commitments. These included
- A waste characterisation initiative, which surveyed the different types of waste produced by a typical SuperValu and Centra store;
- Four “One – Stop – Shop” contracts in four different regions in Ireland. This meant that the one contractor was serving the needs of all of the Musgrave Group stores in a particular area with a focus on waste minimisation, recycling and new technology, savings on costs and resources, availability of services for all waste streams and no disadvantage to ‘out-lying’ stores;
- Segregation of the various different waste streams
- Best Practice Guide to Waste Management for Retailers;
The following shows the savings that were made by one SuperValu store following the introduction of changes in waste management. In mid 2002 all waste was put in a compactor and landfilled at a cost of €2,200 per month. Now the waste is segregated carefully with card, papers and plastic recycled and the residual sent to landfill. The cost of this is less than €600 per month. This amounts to savings of approximately €1,600 per month or 73%.
On a regional basis, the first region to adopt a One – Stop – Shop contract was Munster & South Leinster. There are currently ca. 140 stores on contract with a recycling rate of 55% recycling (2003) and estimated savings over €1.0 million in this region alone. Materials recycled include card, plastic, paper, wood, cooking oil and compostables and the recycling target for 2004 is 60%. Retailers recycling >60% are seeing significant savings.
In the coming years, Musgrave intend to:
- Continue to raise awareness among retailers of the benefits of waste management best practice.
- Maximise the Uptake of the ‘One-Stop-Shop’ Waste Management Contracts among retailers.
- Further exploit potential for savings in resources and costs through implementation of best practice.
From their experience, every tonne of waste sent to legal landfill adds between €150 and €250 to Retailer Costs
