THE SUSTAINABILITY POLICY OF FIVE LEADING

EUROPEAN RETAILERS

Claudia-Maria BOBE1 and Voicu Dan DRAGOMIR

The Academy of Economic Studies of Bucharest, Romania

ABSTRACT

Retailers have a pivotal role to play in that they are intermediaries between producers and
manufacturers, on the one hand, and customers, on the other. Some authors characterise the
retailers’ position as being largely passive while others view the retailers as having a much
more active role in driving production and in stimulating customer demand. Retailers are
currently looking for measures to address a number of environmental issues including energy
consumption and emissions, raw material usage, water consumption, waste, the volume of
packaging, recycling, genetically modified foods and the use of chemicals. The development
of such measures allows them to chart progress over time and to compare their performance
with industry wide standards and government targets.

Sustainability is a concept which deals with the fair allocation of resources on a global scale.
Today, large retailers seem to be increasingly keen to communicate their sustainability
commitment to their shareholders, customers and the general public. Retailers believe that
long term economic viability is in the interests of all stakeholders and that by integrating
environmental sustainability into their businesses they will be better positioned to provide
long term growth and financial security for those stakeholders and to maintain and enhance
their market position.

This paper offers a review of the sustainability agendas being pursued by some of Europe’s
leading retailers, since a growing number of such companies seem increasingly keen to
communicate their sustainability commitments to their stakeholders. The paper is organized
as follows: the insights provided by a review of sustainability reporting are applied to the
analysis of environmental policy and performance of five European retail chains.
Comparative and chronological tables support the conclusion that there is a long path to
sustainability before the most basic consumer products reach the shelves. We focus on
retailers’ environmental implication, on retailers’ specific environmental reports and on
similarities and disparities between five large retailers. The retailers’ environmental
implication represents a great chance for removing barriers in preserving the environment
and life-support systems.

KEY WORDS

Retail industry, sustainability reporting, environmental indicators, European companies.

1
Correspondence address: Claudia Maria Bobe, The Bucharest Academy of Economic
Studies, Piaţa Romană nr. 6, Bucharest, Romania, Tel. +40 21.319.19.00, email:
clau_sunny@yahoo.com.
INTRODUCTION

A growing number of large retailers certainly seem increasingly keen to communicate

their commitment to sustainable development to their shareholders, customers and the
general public. This paper offers a review of the sustainability agendas being pursued
by some of Europe’s leading retailers as evidenced in their corporate social
responsibility reports available on the internet.

Retailers arguably have a pivotal role to play in that they are intermediaries between
primary product producers and manufacturers, on the one hand, and customers, on the
other. Some characterise the retailers’ position as being largely passive while others
view the retailers as having a much more active role in driving production and in
stimulating customer demand. Gilbert (1999), for example, describes retailers as
“occupying a middle position, receiving and passing on products from producers to
customers”. Wrigley and Lowe (2002), on the other hand, argue that “the geographies
of production are being actively shaped by multi-national retail capital” and
McGoldrick (2002) observes that “retailing is a very visible form of economic activity
which exerts a major influence over the lives of consumers”. Durieu (2003) certainly
recognises the retailers’ pivotal role, arguing that “they can greatly influence changes
in production processes and consumption patterns and are well positioned to exert
pressure on producers in favour of more sustainable consumer choices”.

Regarding corporate sustainability reporting, the European Commission started in

1992 an action programme related to this issue. Among a range of proposals in the
area of environmental protection, the Commission also provided several guidelines in
the area of accounting. This initiative was primarily related to the ways and means
used by companies to report on financial aspects pertaining to the environment
(European Comission, 2001). It is well known that, in the absence of harmonised
authoritative guidelines in relation to environmental issues and financial reporting,
comparability between companies appears to be complicated. Thus, the information is
often disclosed in a variety of non-harmonised ways, with significant divergence
among entities and reporting periods, rather than being presented in an integrated and
consistent manner throughout the annual accounts and the annual management report.
Consequently, an increased attention to the financial and non-financial aspects of
economic activity (i.e. retailing in our case) could ensure that environmental
expenditures and risks are taken into account and could increase the retailers’
awareness of environmental issues.

Retail provision within the European Union has become increasingly concentrated
and the number of small independent retailers has continued to decline. The retail
marketplace has become dominated by a relatively small number of large retailers
who are aggressively pursuing strategies to increase their sales, their market share and
their profits (Jones et al., 2005). The research in this paper augments the perspective
that, given the interrelationships within the market, these large retailers have a
significant impact on the environment, on the economy and on society, and also play a
dominant role in facilitating more sustainable patterns of production and
consumption. The paper is organized as follows: the insights provided by a review of
sustainability reporting are applied to the analysis of the environmental policy and
performance of five European retail chains. Comparative and chronological tables
support the conclusion that the quality of sustainability reports is still far from what
financial reporting has achieved regarding attributes such as relevance and reliability
(Damak-Ayadi, 2008).

1. SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING – THE REVIEW OF A GENERAL

FRAMEWORK

The sustainable dimension of any activity is mainly ethical. Sustainability is a concept

which deals with a fair allocation of resources on a global scale. Fairness comes from
a rational and responsible distribution of resources and opportunities between the
future and present generations, and a scale of economic activities relative to their
ecological life support systems (O'Dwyer & Owen, 2005). The term ‘sustainability’
was coined by the publication of the Brundtland Report in 1987 and the subsequent
Summits of Rio and Johannesburg supported by the United Nations. These events
have helped to bring about the development of a shared consciousness on the need to
reflect on how society can contribute to social welfare without threatening survival of
the Earth. The report also recognised that achieving equity, growth and environmental
maintenance would require technological and social change.

The roots of sustainability reporting in its current form date to 1989, when the
Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economics (CERES) released the Valdez
Principles – a 10-point code of conduct that included a commitment to reporting on
environmental management structures and results. Environmental reporting, the
precursor of sustainability reporting, took shape in the early 1990s as part of the
search for tools to enhance accountability. In 1997, environmental reporting reached a
turning point with the launch of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) by CERES in
partnership with the United Nations Environmental Program. Its goal was to enhance
the quality, rigor, and utility of sustainability reporting. The first official edition of the
GRI Guidelines was released in June 2000, and the work on the next edition
commenced immediately thereafter; by August 2002, the second edition of the
Guidelines was released in Johannesburg during the World Summit on Sustainable
Development, and the third generation of the Guidelines (G3) was released in October
2006.

The axioms that are to be found in the abundant literature (Ballou et al., 2006; Gilbert,
2002) on sustainability reporting are as follows: triple-bottom-line reporting, also
known as sustainability reporting, involves disclosing nonfinancial and financial
information to a broader set of stakeholders than just the shareholders. The reports
aim to inform stakeholder groups of the reporting organisation’s ability to manage key
risks, such as environmental and social risks. Such reports are to be read on a regular
basis by a wide range of stakeholders who use the information to compare and
contrast companies across the measures of most interest to them. Based on this
analysis, they are able to provide detailed and targeted feedback to companies through
various types of action from awards to protest. Through the consistent and inevitable
exposure that results from this high level of transparency, companies are motivated to
improve their performance on a range of indicators to demonstrate continued
improvement and outdo others in their sector.

Corporations and organizations of all types are now aware that they must obtain a
“license to operate” from a sceptical and aware public (Elkington, 2006). The license
to operate implies the effort towards ecological modernization, configured as a
systems-based approach which looks at the interconnections between policy
formation, the economy and the natural environment. The subsequent discussion
highlights the passage from the European Community action framework on
sustainability issues to the self-regulatory approaches on the corporate side.

The Sixth Environment Action Programme (Decision No 1600/2002/EC) entitled

"Environment 2010: Our Future, Our Choice" is based on the Fifth Environment
Action Programme, which covered the period 1992-2000, and relies on the effort of
all publicly-quoted companies with at least 500 staff to publish a ‘triple bottom line’
in their annual reports, that measures their performance against economic,
environmental and social criteria. In this respect, the ‘triple bottom line’ approach is
founded on the idea that the overall performance of a company should be measured
based on its combined contribution to economic prosperity, environmental quality and
societal capital.

It is important for the business community to acknowledge that barriers to effective

self-regulation do exist (Dragomir, 2008). The very nature of reflexive regulatory
systems lets final decisions rest in the province of regulated entities, keeping the
frame of reference inside the corporation. However, environmental protection
demands the frame of reference to be kept external to the firm, because the natural
environment is itself external. Thus, objectively valid self-examination and social-
learning of enterprises is highly improbable (Gaines & Kimber, 2001). Self-regulation
as a tool of environmental policy can be effective only if specific accountability to the
public is enforceable. In the end, reflexive systems must be backed up by public and
legal sanctions for inadequate performance. Empirical evidence supports this
contention: a hierarchy is present among stakeholders, with the governments
occupying first place in importance; the government adds power and urgency to
legitimacy by passing new laws and fining companies who elude compliance (Gago &
Antolin, 2004).

Retailers are currently looking for measures to address a number of environmental

issues including energy consumption and emissions, raw material usage, water
consumption, waste, the volume of packaging, recycling, genetically modified foods
and the use of chemicals. The development of such measures allows them to chart
progress over time and to compare their performance with industry wide standards
and government targets. Some retailers have developed their own key performance
indicators (KPIs). The underlying argument here is that retailers ultimately believe
that long term economic viability is in the interests of all stakeholders and that by
integrating environmental sustainability into their businesses they will be better
positioned to provide long term growth and financial security for those stakeholders
and to maintain and enhance their market position.

2. METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS

Five of the largest European retail companies by market capitalisation were selected
for our qualitative study. The selected firms are: Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Carrefour,
Groupe Casino and Ahold. For each of them, all the available sustainability reports
were downloaded from company websites and analyzed with respect to the
companies’ environmental statements and performance. Their respective key
performance indicators (KPIs) were tracked over time and summarized in the five
tables included within this paper. The sustainability agenda of each company was
reviewed in several dedicated paragraphs, in order to form a comparison base for the
retailing industry. This critical approach was deemed relevant and fills an important
knowledge gap regarding the environmental practices and reporting skills of some
major players on the European retail market.

Within each table, the GRI compliance level is reported by the respective company, as
follows: level C for a minimum of 10 performance indicators, including at least one
from each of: social, economic, and environment; level B for a minimum of 20
performance indicators, at least one from each of: economic, environment, human
rights, labor, society, product responsibility; level A for a response on each core G3
indicator with due regard to the materiality principle.

In our study, each table includes a selection of crucial indicators as presented by each
company in the sustainability report. We marked with “x” the existence of indicators,
and with an empty cell the case in which the indicator was not provided by the
company for a specific year. We could not find any available public information
regarding the reasons why certain indicators are missing for several years. In some
cases, whole years may be missing; this is due to the fact that sustainability reporting
may not have an annual basis. This is strictly a matter of corporate internal policy,
since sustainability reporting is not mandatory and is rarely audited by independent
professionals.

1.1. Tesco plc – a UK-based international grocery and general merchandising

retail chain

It is the largest British retailer by both global sales and domestic market share, with
profits exceeding £3 billion (€3,6 billion). It is currently the third largest global
retailer based on revenue, behind Wal-Mart (U.S.) and France's Carrefour, but second
largest based on profit, ahead of Carrefour. Originally specialized in food and drink, it
has diversified into areas such as clothing, consumer electronics, financial services,
telecoms, home, health and car insurance. Tesco has approx 470.000 employees and a
number of 4.331 stores. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and
also on the Irish Stock Exchange.

Tesco plays an important role in tackling climate change. Therefore, the company has
a Climate Change Programme consisting of reducing direct carbon footprint and
working with the supply chains and partners to further reduce emissions. The main
environmental indicators showed in Table 1 come to strengthen the targets and
measures to be followed up by the company in respect of environmental
responsibility. In the UK, energy use is now half of what it was in 2000 due to the
investments in energy-saving and low-carbon technologies. Regarding the carbon
dioxide emissions, the company cuts its carbon intensity by 10.9% year-on-year.
Tesco defines direct carbon footprint (i.e. total greenhouse gas emissions) to include
emissions from property, distribution and all business travel by its employees, where
paid for by Tesco.
Waste management aspects are handled by Tesco through working with recycling
providers to find new ways to recycle waste from the operations. The main objective
set in respect of waste is to minimize the waste produced and divert 95% of the waste
away from landfill. Regarding packaging, the company follows up to reduce the
amount of packaging used, without compromising product integrity. The packaging
policy is based on five key principles: packaging should be fit for purpose, use light-
weight materials, use materials from the most sustainable sources, maximize
opportunities for recycling and recovery and be designed to have the lowest carbon
impact keeping in mind the whole product life cycle. To reduce the environmental
impact, Tesco asks customers if they are reusing bags or need a carrier bag in order to
encourage even more customers to reuse their bags. Nevertheless, Tesco aims to
mobilize collective action among customers, suppliers and employees, to help protect
the environment, and generate a mass movement in green consumption.

Table 1. The presence of environmental indicators in sustainability reports issued

by Tesco

Tesco 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002

GRI-compliance - - - - - - - -
Share of emissions x x x
(CO2) by country
Absolute emissions by x x
market (mtCO2e)
Group emissions x x x
(CO2) by source
Tesco lorry fleet x x
carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions
Percentage of store x x x
waste recycled
Amount of waste x
generated and
packaging recycled
Waste tonnes x
Plastic recycling (in x
thousand tonnes)
Paper/Card Recycling x
(in thousand tonnes)
Packaging weight x
Landfill waste – tonnes x x
Energy use kWh x x x x x x

1.2. J Sainsbury plc – the parent company of Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd,

commonly known as Sainsbury's

It is the third largest chain of supermarkets in the UK after Tesco and Asda, with a
share of the UK supermarket sector of 16.4% compared to Tesco's 31.5% and Asda's
16.7%. Sainsbury's places an emphasis on offering higher quality grocery. Currently it
operates 785 hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores and has 150,000
employees. Sainsbury's is particularly strong in London and in the South-East of UK,
where it is based, and although it has a national store portfolio, it is biased towards the
South-East. The group also has interests in real estate and banking and it is listed on
the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Sainsbury's shows responsibility in respect to the environment by increasing the level

of recycled material in the bags and by taking action in some several important ways
like setting targets for emissions reductions, engaging with stakeholders to find ways
of tackling climate change, working with suppliers to reduce their emissions and to
encourage the customers to take steps that will limit their environmental impact. The
main environmental performance indicators showed in Table 2 come to strengthen the
company's targets of reducing the environmental impact of its activities. Sainsbury's
main goal is to lower the overall level of energy used in stores by finding ways to
reduce energy consumption both in the existing estate and in newly built stores.

Table 2. The environmental indicators present in sustainability reports

issued by J Sainsbury

J Sainsbury 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002

GRI-compliance - - - - - - -
Energy efficiency Sainsbury’s x x x x x
Stores kgCO2/m2
Energy efficiency (total tonnes x x x x x
CO2)
Carbon dioxide emissions x x x x
associated with energy use at
stores (tonnes)
Carbon dioxide emissions x x x
from transport (tonnes)
Waste generated at stores x x x x x x
Packaging used on our x x x
products

Regarding waste management, the company aims to minimize the environmental

impact of the waste produced – from packaging and carrier bags to food waste. The
company envisaged to reduce, reuse and recycle by reducing the amount of materials
used in the first instance, reusing packaging and food wherever possible and recycling
any waste. Regarding packaging policies, the company was the first retailer to pioneer
the use of compostable packaging. Sainsbury's representatives say that they have a
long history of environmentally responsible actions but they also admit that there is
still much more to be done in this respect.

1.3. Carrefour SA – a French international hypermarket chain, with over

495,000 employees (2008)

It is the largest hypermarket chain in the world in terms of size, the second largest
retail group in the world in terms of revenue and third largest in profit after Wal-Mart
and Tesco. Carrefour operates mainly in Europe, China, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina
and in the Dominican Republic, but also has shops in North Africa and other parts of
Asia.

One of Carrefour’s priorities is to improve the energy efficiency of its stores by 20%
by 2020 (baseline 2004). Stores in some major countries such as hypermarkets in
France, Italy and Belgium have already achieved this. Over €30 million was invested
in 2008 in energy reduction projects which were part of multi-year programmes. The
Energy Efficiency programme in place recommends solutions such as energy
management system, the optimization of refrigeration systems, energy-saving lighting
and the use of natural light and closed freezers. The second biggest source of
greenhouse gas emissions, after electricity, is refrigerant leaks. In this area, the
Group's approach is to test new systems, anticipate regulatory changes and require its
maintenance providers to commit to the reduction and monitoring of these leaks.

The main type of waste generated by stores comes from secondary packaging –
notably cardboard – which is sorted by Carrefour in all countries. The sorting of other
types of waste produced in smaller quantities (plastic, organic waste, scrap iron, etc.)
depends on the availability of local specific waste recovery systems. For unsold food
and textiles, Carrefour is currently working with charities to organize their
redistribution. Carrefour is also making efforts to reduce the volume of store waste by
replacing wooden boxes and crates used for the shipping of merchandise by reusable
plastic containers.

Table 3. The presence of environmental indicators in Carrefour’s sustainability

reports

CARREFOUR 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002

GRI-compliance B B B - - - -
Energy consumption by x x x x x x x
country (in kWh/sq. m of sales
area)
Energy consumption x x x x x
(electricity, gas, fuel) (in Gwh)
CO2 (logistics) emissions per x x x x x
shipping unit by country and
format
CO2 (logistics) emissions x x x x x x
CO2 emissions generated by x x
fuel, gas and electricity
consumption
Recycled waste by country or x x x x x x x
by region and format (in kg/sq.
m of sales area)
Recycled waste (tonnes) x x x x x
Quantity of paper purchased x x x x x
for commercial publications (in
kg/sq. m of sales area)
Quantity of paper purchased x x x x x x
for commercial publications
 (tonnes)
Quantity of paper purchased x x x x
for offices
Average paper weight of paper x x
purchased for commercial
publications (g/sq. m)
Number of free disposable x x
plastic check-out bags by
region and format (per sq. m of
sales area)
Number of free disposable x x x x x x
plastic check-out bags (in
millions)
Consumption of refrigerants (in x x x x x x
kg/1,000 sq. m of sales area)

1.4 Groupe Casino – a large French multinational corporation

With revenue of €24.972 billion and over 159.900 employees in 2008, its main
business is retail and distribution in hyper and supermarkets. The company distributes
a range of products via a chain of more than 10,000 stores, including hypermarkets,
under the brand name Geant Casino and Hyper Casino; supermarkets Casino
Supermarches, Franprix and Monoprix; discount stores Leader Price; convenience
stores Petit Casino, Spar and Vival and restaurants Cafeteria Casino and Comptoirs
Casino as well as Internet shopping Coursengo and Cdiscount. In addition, the
Company provides the bank, gas supply, restaurant and mobile phone services. Casino
Guichard Perrachon SA operates in 10 countries, among which there are: the United
States, the Netherlands, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Columbia, Thailand and
Vietnam.

Based on an evaluation of primary emissions sources using the Bilan Carbone method
(see Table 4) developed by the French Agency for Environment and Energy
Management, the group has identified three objectives that warrant priority attention:
reducing energy consumption; optimising the refrigeration systems; reducing the
environmental impact of goods transport.

A variety of equipment is used to ensure ongoing improvements in energy efficiency,

including low-power lighting, reflectors, load-shedding devices and more. Regular
audits are used to identify aberrations and encourage employees to monitor energy
use. The Group’s warehouses, meanwhile, are testing a prototype of an “intelligent”
battery-charged forklift truck that can be programmed to receive an optimal charge for
providing the precise amount of energy needed. Initial testing over a six-month period
points to savings of nearly 14% in energy consumption. The coolants used in the
refrigeration systems are powerful contributors to global warming; in France they
account for 18% of the Group’s greenhouse-gas emissions. In 2005 the Group
launched a programme aimed at encouraging refrigeration service providers to adopt
the best available options for reducing refrigerant leakage; thus retail divisions have
installed leak detectors at their stores in France.
Working in collaboration with the group’s suppliers, an eco-design campaign has
been conducted to achieve reductions at the source in the volume of packaging waste
generated by own-brand products. In addition, pilot projects are underway for
expanding the sorting of fermentable waste (unsold produce, flowers, breads and
baked goods, dairy products, etc.), which is then diverted for composting.

Table 4. The presence of environmental indicators in sustainability reports issued

by Groupe Casino

GROUPE CASINO 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002

GRI-compliance - - - - - -
Energy consumption by source – x x x x x
electricity, natural gas, fuel (MWh)
Greenhouse-gas emissions x x
attributable to transport of goods
(between warehouses and stores-
CO2-equiv. metric tons)
Greenhouse-gas emissions by x
division in relation to sales
Breakdown of greenhouse-gas x x
emissions by Casino operations in
France (Bilan Carbone®)
Electricity consumption in kWh per x x x x x x
sq. m of retail space, by division
Electricity consumption by country x x x x
in MWh
Volume of waste collected under a x x x x x
waste management agreement in
France, by waste type or by division
Sorted waste collected for recovery x x x x x
(for fuel or reuse-metric tons)
Quantity of cardboard waste x
produced and sorted for recycling
Volume of materials saved as a x
result of ecodesign packaging
Used batteries collected in Casino x x x x x
stores
Use of returnable packaging (France) x
Tonnage of wood and cardboard x
saved by use of returnable packaging
(France)

1.5 Royal Ahold N.V. – a major international supermarket operator based in

Amsterdam in the Netherlands

Ahold is listed on Euronext Amsterdam and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. At the end
of 2008, it operated 2,897 retail locations in the United States and Europe, employed
more than 200,000 people and had combined sales of €25.7 billion. In addition some
of the Company’s subsidiaries finance, develop and manage store sites and shopping
centers in support of its retail operations. Ahold’s retail operations are presented in
five segments: Stop&Shop/Giant-Landover (U.S.), Giant-Carlisle (U.S.), Albert Heijn
(Netherlands), Albert/Hypernova (Central Europe).

The company stated that their main climate action goals are to: improve the ecological
and environmental footprint by making its operations more efficient; develop
environmentally responsible strategies that improve water conservation and reduce
waste; encourage suppliers and consumers to behave in an environmentally
responsible manner. The environmental performance indicators presented in Table 5
are accompanied by a set of measures designed to reduce the environmental impact of
corporate activities. In 2008, the company began collecting data to define Ahold’s
carbon footprint, including fuel, gas and electricity consumption and emissions of
refrigerant leakage, as well as third-party data in the calculations to represent
distribution centres, transport and stores. Managers began to track and benchmark
energy consumption and invest in energy-efficient equipment, while developing
solutions with vendors, share best practices among operating companies, and train
employees to save energy.

Regarding the effort on reducing waste, many of the group companies are continuing
to explore new ways to recycle additional types of waste at offices, stores and
distribution centres. A number of group businesses audit their stores and distribution
centres to ensure recyclable waste is not included in the residual waste stream when
recycling facilities are available. In Europe, Ahold companies work with suppliers to
reduce packaging waste in line with the EU Packaging Directive.

Table 5. The presence of environmental indicators in sustainability reports issued

by Ahold

AHOLD 2008 2007 2005 2004 2002

GRI-compliance B C - - -
Products that are certified organic x x x x x
Fuel consumption between distribution x x
centres (DCs) and stores
Natural gas consumption in DCs and stores x
Electricity consumption in DCs and stores x x x x x
Refrigerants installed in stores x x x x x
Leakage of refrigerant substances in DCs x
and stores
Waste by type x x x x
Total waste in % by disposal method x x x x x
Water consumption in DCs and stores x x

3. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

In theory it is considered that the concept of “retail company” refers to a single entity
which operates as a whole and whose main goal is to maximize value and shareholder
wealth. Due to the emergence of new elements and complex needs like preserving the
environment, alternative views of the retail company have been developed (Mocanu et
al., 2009). Consequently, sustainability performance, i.e. social and environmental
responsibility, is already a reality of today’s retail industry. All these concepts are not
just fashionable words designed to mimic the initiatives of other industries, but
represent a necessity developed by stakeholders, a source of economic power for
companies, and, thus, a pattern of survival for retailers (Gökdeniz et al., 2008).

Empirical studies performed by MORI at European level (Market and Opinion

Research International) with respect to environmental responsibility revealed that
consumers are more interested in buying products or services from environmentally
involved companies (Militaru, 2006). Moreover, 50% of the consumers will always be
ready to pay a higher price for the products or services provided by retailers that are
strongly interested in solving social or environmental matters (Militaru, 2006). It is a
common place that sustainability performance reports available on the internet can be
referred to as marketing strategies. Even so, it is not always an easy way to be in line
with sustainability requirements and, at the same time, to be seen as charitable or with
no hidden marketing interests. This is how retail companies struggle to survive and to
protect their existence, from an economic and financial point of view, while also
assuming environmental commitments (Farcane et al., 2009).

In their struggle to survive, retailers also face ethical problems. There is a debate in
respect of the damages that retailers may cause to the environment due to their core
activities, despite their environmental responsibility. Moreover, another issue may
come into discussion: the fairness of selling a good and obtaining a positive image by
publishing environmental reports despite the negative environmental impact of each
company. It seems that the answers are somewhere hidden in every consumer’s
understanding and behaviour, because the consumers are in the position to decide
whether they will buy the retailers’ products or not. Moreover, companies themselves
have the responsibility of taking powerful and long-term actions in limiting their
environmental impact.

Our study brings to the forefront the insights of five European retail chains and their
evolution regarding environmental responsibility for a period of several years. There
is no default rule concerning this evolution, since each retail company has its own
strategy, own objectives and a particular attitude regarding environmental
responsibility. The English retail chain Tesco started playing the sustainability card by
publishing annual environmental reports beginning with 2002. The company has
presented in its reports several specific indicators like the lorry fleet carbon dioxide
emissions or plastic recycling. The key performance indicators presented by Tesco do
not follow a predictable evolution. The company included less environmental key
indicators in 2009 than in 2002, as Tesco's strategies seem to be more oriented to a
comprehensive presentation of environmental responsibility targets. Opposite to
Tesco, J Sainsbury presents a more predictable key performance indicator list
designed to underline the company's environmental impact for the period between
2002 and 2008. Besides Sainsbury's propensity for the compilation of key
performance indicators, the company also describes a wide-range of aspects, targets
and measures in a user-friendly manner.

France’s Carrefour displays an improved and longer list of indicators year-on-year.

The French retailer also presents in its reports the measures, strategies and targets
towards limiting its environmental impact. Carrefour is one of the largest hypermarket
chains in the world and therefore has various environmental strategies, like specific
energy efficiency programmes, indicators concerning waste management or
substantial efforts to reduce the volume of store waste. Carrefour's competitor,
Groupe Casino has a similar way of presenting its sustainability report by introducing
key performance indicators that reflect the specific of the retail industry. The
indicators from the 2007 report reflect the importance of waste management and
energy consumption, in line with previous years.

The fifth retail company included in our study, Ahold, is a major international
supermarket operator based in Amsterdam. In this respect, Ahold group has become
aware of the environmental impact of its activities, currently exhibiting an improved
list of indicators compared with 2002 by including natural gas consumption or fuel
consumption indicators. The company has shaped an extensive list of key
performance indicators in order to emphasize Ahold’s impact to the environment.
Nevertheless, Ahold’s strategies and targets are only briefly described in its annual
reports.

The retailers presented in our study exhibit disparities but also several similarities.
Some of the factors that make each retailer unique are: domestic culture, consumers’
behaviour, company’s size, the direct interests pursued by managers, and
stakeholders’ expectations. Therefore, each large retailer has its own particular
manner of understanding, presenting and behaving with regard to its environmental
impact. On the other hand, UK retailers showed similarities by presenting reports with
few indicators, but with detailed strategies, measures, targets and actions to be taken.
French retailers are just the opposite, displaying long lists of key indicators and
descriptions focused on measures and targets. Nevertheless, all five retailers seem to
be environmentally responsible and have included objectives and ways to limit their
impact. The English, French and Dutch cultures in respect of responsibility reporting
are different. However, we do not have enough available information for explaining in
detail the differences and similarities in this respect. This area could be a good
opportunity for researchers to develop scientific studies on this theme.

Our study highlights the importance of retailers’ environmental implication, while

focusing on retailers’ specific environmental reports, presenting the similarities and
the disparities between five large retail companies. Nevertheless, our study brings to
the forefront new opportunities regarding future scientific research in this area. The
retailers’ environmental implication represents a great chance for removing barriers in
preserving the environment and Earth’s life-support systems.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This article is a result of the project „Doctoral Program and PhD Students in the
education research and innovation triangle”. This project is co funded by European
Social Fund through The Sectorial Operational Programme for Human Resources
Development 2007-2013, coordinated by The Bucharest Academy of Economic
Studies.

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