Our carbon footprint

In 2011/12, our total carbon footprint from distribution was 14.4% of our global direct carbon footprint. We continued to reduce carbon emissions per case of goods delivered; last year emissions dropped by 10%.

In 2007 we set ourselves the very ambitious target of halving the emissions per case delivered by 2012 across the Group. We have met this target in the UK, which accounts for 65% of the cases we deliver, halving our emissions from 0.14 kg to 0.7 kg of CO₂ per case of goods delivered. We achieved this by adopting our F plan:

• Fuller cages and pallets;
• Fuller trucks and containers;
• Fewer miles; and
• Fuel economy.

Across the Group, our distribution emissions have gone from 0.177 CO₂e to 0.122 CO₂e per case delivered.

These reductions were achieved in a number of ways:

• Reducing trips by maximising the amount of product we deliver in each journey. In Central Europe and the UK we increased the number of longer and double-deck trailers. In the UK we introduced a further 225 double deck trailers to our fleet. In the UK we have purchased 25 prototype longer trailers which will be introduced into our fleet.

• Travelling fewer miles by planning our distribution from central locations and making our networks more efficient. For example in Central Europe we have made significant changes to the distribution network to improve its efficiency. In October 2011 we opened a new distribution centre in Gliwice Poland and closed smaller regional distribution centres. This reduced road miles by 12%, saving 3,238 tonnes of CO₂. In August 2011 we opened our largest national distribution centre in Daventry. This is our first rail enabled distribution centre.
• Alternative modes of transport. In the UK we have transferred significant volumes from road to rail. Our four dedicated rail services save 15,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year taking 14 million miles off the road.
• Using fuel with lower carbon emissions. Our Tesco dotcom vehicles in the UK use biogas which has lower carbon emissions than standard diesel.

Reducing our distribution emissions in our developing markets - where we are growing our business and developing a new distribution system from scratch - has proved challenging. Network development takes time. As this happens, significant improvements can be achieved because stores and distribution centres become better connected. Therefore we have set a new long-term target:

• to reduce carbon emissions per case of goods delivered by 25% by 2020, against a baseline of 2011/12

To ensure we meet the 2020 target across the business, we will be implementing our ‘F plan’, which was so successful in the UK, in our other markets as we develop our distribution networks there.

Low-carbon depots

We have opened our first depot to be powered entirely by renewable energy in Widnes, UK. The depot is not connected to the National Grid, but instead is supplied with heat and electricity through a partnership with logistics company Stobart and recycler PDM. Each year, PDM's CHP plant will turn 230,000 tonnes of food waste – from food retailers including Tesco – into renewable heat and electricity, saving 7,000 tonnes of CO₂e.