3 minute read
Retail Interview - with George at Asda senior sustainability manager Jade Snart
George
goes green
Eco options are top of the agenda for George at Asda, as senior sustainability manager Jade Snart explains
As a value volume retailer, it’s important that we play our part to minimise the environmental We have launched many circular initiatives over the past few years, including the launch of our George impact of what we produce. Take Back scheme where we offer an
Sustainability has always been incentive for our customers to recycle a part of our business but in 2019 their unwanted clothing and home we shared our five-pillar ‘George textiles with us. We’ve also partnered for Good’ strategy. This primarily with Preloved [a vintage wholesaler focuses on responsibly sourced fibres, that sells bespoke vintage clothing sustainable manufacturing, from well-known brands] and people in our supply chain, reduction of packaging and circularity. It covers clothing and general merchandise “ now offer second-hand clothing in 50 of our stores. We try to have a constant drumbeat of the journey we including toys. are currently on, explaining to
We are pleased to say that customers why we are doing what over 80% of our products are we are doing, and also offering now sourced with responsible recycling solutions in our stores for fibres and we publicly those hard-to-recycle items. We disclose our first and second actively encourage our customers tier supply base. to care for their products to ensure they have the maximum longevity where possible and promote our ‘Wear me, Care for me, and Share me’ culture with our 100-day guarantee. We actively listen to our customers via listening groups and insight and customer feedback. We also run user/wearer trials to ensure our products meet our highquality standards and last the test of time. Sustainability is absolutely at the forefront of our criteria when we onboard new suppliers, and we run vigorous audits that all our suppliers must comply with ahead of the partnership commencing.
onboard new ”suppliers
Buyer’s eye Asda buying manager of fashion dolls, playsets & collectables, arts & crafts, and areas of preschool toys Natalie Leather says:
“Investigating, trialling, and introducing new ways of being sustainable is something we remain focused on. In recent years we have moved to ensure all our George Home wooden toys are FSC-accredited. We have also been on a journey with our suppliers, working with them to reduce the amount of plastic packaging in our toys, with the aim of making them completely plastic-free.
“We feature a range of sustainable toys in our Middleton sustainability store [in Leeds, which opened in October 2020], and we are always on the lookout with suppliers and manufacturers for new materials that are more sustainable.
“We also use many suppliers that work with TerraCycle [an innovative recycling company that specialises in recycling hard-to-recycle material], giving customers the opportunity to recycle some of their toys.”
Peppa Pig
partnership
George at Asda has partnered with Peppa Pig and Ecologi to offer a range of clothing made from responsibly sourced cotton through the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) as well footwear, accessories and wooden toys and playsets made with FSC-certified wood from responsibly managed forests, as part of Hasbro’s Plant with Peppa campaign.
Plant with Peppa aims to teach children about the importance of trees to the world, and Peppa Pig’s reforestation programme pledges to plant 10,000 trees at projects based in England, Wales and Scotland. A variety of trees including oak, maple, crab apple, cherry, silver birch and Scots pine will be planted, and families will be able to check their progress at the virtual Peppa Forest on the Ecologi website, where they can click on each tree to find out where it has been planted and how well it is growing.
Catrina O’Brien, retail development director for
Hasbro, said: “We’re so pleased to be partnering with George on our Plant with Peppa campaign, and proud to be showcasing a range of products made with the planet in mind. By planting 10,000 trees, Peppa is helping to show that our actions can have a positive impact on future generations. We hope that it gives families an engaging way to learn about the vital role that trees play in the earth’s eco system.”