Tesco to help supply chain cut carbon

The supermarket chain Tesco has also introduced a collaborative buying club which will help its suppliers invest in energy efficient lighting.

The Buying Club, which has been developed in collaboration with 2degrees and the Carbon Trust, will be available to the 700+ businesses that are members of the retail giant’s Knowledge Hub – a global and exclusive online community for Tesco suppliers which encourages members to share information, experiences and best practice in carbon reduction.

The scheme will work by using the collective purchasing power of the suppliers in the Knowledge Hub to negotiate discounts on energy efficient lighting equipment. Savings of up to 25% will be available on the cost of equipment, which could result in savings of up to 80% on energy bills.

The launch follows a successful pilot of four suppliers who trialled the model earlier in the year. Feedback from those who took part showed that power of collaboration can remove barriers and concerns to investing in energy saving measures – such as confusion over the huge range of low energy lighting providers, and quality and price.

Chloe Meacher, Tesco climate change manager said: “We are committed to using our scale for good and this initiative is just one way we can do that, helping our suppliers make energy savings. Our suppliers have told us that cost and lack of knowledge can be the biggest barriers to making investment in energy savings. The Buying Club will address these concerns.”

Simon Brown, managing director at 2degrees Enterprise said: “The Buying Club is a project that uses 2degrees’ collaboration approach to enable combined purchasing to reduce lighting costs by up to 80% for participating Tesco suppliers. It drastically reduces the barriers to energy efficiency lighting and Typhoo, who took part in the pilot, is the first of many Knowledge Hub suppliers that will slash their lighting capital costs and their CO2 emissions through this collaboration.”

Bruno Gardner, director, Energy Efficiency Ventures at The Carbon Trust, said: “Energy efficient lighting is one of the best investments many businesses can make right now. In theory it should be an easy decision, but in practice that’s not always the case. By joining forces with Tesco and 2degrees, we were able to make the business case for energy efficient lighting even more compelling for Tesco’s suppliers – giving them the confidence they needed to invest in saving money and cutting carbon.”