Loblaw Once More One of Canada’s Greenest Employers

For the third consecutive year, Loblaw Cos. Limited has been named one of Canada’s Greenest Employers by Toronto-based Mediacorp Canada. The award recognizes the Brampton, Ontario-based grocer for espousing a corporate culture devoted to the development of industry-leading environmentally conscious and sustainability-focused initiatives.

“Loblaw and its colleagues, employees and franchise owners are committed to being one of Canada’s Greenest Employers,” said Bob Chant, SVP, corporate affairs and communication at Brampton, Ontario-based Loblaw. “As Canada’s largest grocery retailer, Loblaw takes seriously its responsibility to continue to reduce the environmental impact of our operations through the sourcing of sustainable products, environmentally friendly purchasing decisions and by reducing energy consumption.”

Among the company’s environmental accomplishments during 2011: more than doubling the number of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)-certified wild-caught seafood products sold in its stores; reducing the use of plastic shopping bags; lowering overall fuel consumption by 2 percent and reducing idle time by 20 percent versus 2010; completing lighting retrofits for 112 corporate stores nationally, in which more than 36,000 light fixtures were converted to fluorescent technology; achieving a 14 percent reduction in energy consumption in renovated corporate stores in western Canada; expanding organic waste diversion and multi-stream recycling programs in corporate stores, distribution centers and store support centers; supporting several environmental initiatives for colleagues and their communities; and adding to its PC G.R.E.E.N product line.

On April 30, Loblaw will release its 2011 Corporate Social Responsibility Report, which will provide updated information on the full range of the company’s sustainability commitments and achievements.

Launched in 2007, Canada’s Greenest Employers is run by the editors of the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project.

Loblaw operates more than 1,000 corporate and franchised stores across Canada that employ more than 135,000 full-time and part-time employees.