Supermarkets improving but still fall short of green standards
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Supermarkets have made progress on green issues in recent years but are still failing to care enough for the environment, a study has found.
The National Consumer Council checked Britain's eight leading grocery chains for seasonal food, organics, sustainability and waste and found that, despite improvements, none of the stores performed well enough to merit its top "A" ranking. Waitrose was rated the greenest supermarket with a "good" B, but even it was criticised for air-freighting too much fruit and veg.
Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury rated C - "showing potential", though both relied too much on imports that caused pollution.
Tesco - which had a "poor score overall" given its position as Britain's biggest retailer; Asda, poor on wood and recycling; and the Co-op, which was dismal on fish, were all ranked D - "room for improvement". Morrisons and Somerfield performed badly in all areas apart from their high proportion of British fresh produce, and were rated E - "poor".
The NCC called on supermarkets to make green "mainstream" in their stores rather than in niche products and to engage and inspire their customers.
It said that they should offer card incentives for green behaviour, introduce sustainably-sourced fish and wood, and make all packaging from recycled material.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments