As we've grown to be NZ's largest retailer, so has our ambition to be a positive force for NZ. Right now, the planet faces big challenges and we're stepping up to play an even more active part. We're committed to continuing to shift our business radically and have a vision to make sustainable living easy and affordable for everyone. We've already made good progress, but this take things a step further, putting sustainability at the heart of what we do, reducing our impact for the sake of our whanau, for Aotearoa, and for our planet.
One of the ways we are doing this is a simple test called 'The Tomorrow Test'. When we're making decisions across our business we ask "Does it pass the Tomorrow Test?". While its a simple sentence, its a big question and one that we ask ourselves about everything we do, and everything we sell. Everytime we ask the question and make more progress in the right direction, we make a difference. Our values define what we stand for and how we deliver on our purpose and vision. Our core values are: Think Customer, Own It and Do Good. They guide our conversations, actions and decision.
Find out how we're doing this below....
Fleet
To help reduce our carbon footprint, we're flipping our fleet. Currently 59% of our passenger cars are EV's. We're aiming to be 100% electric by 2023. Our electric vehicle fleet now includes four custom EV tricks to service home deliveries.
We're also making is easy for our customers with EV's to visit us, with 24 of our Warehouse stores offering free electric vehicle charging stations.
Carbon Neutral
We achieved carbon neutral operating status in 2019, meaning all our carbon emissions from 2018 onward are offset. We're the largest company in New Zealand - and the third retailer globally - to be carbon neutral.
We're not stopping there. Our 2030 target is to reduce our emissions by 32% from our 2015 base level. This is in keeping with the targets set by the 2015 Paris Agreement.
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Reusable Bags
Plastic is not fantastic. In 2018, The Warehouse Group ditched single use plastic bags and began offering customers reusable bags for purchase. And what's good for the environment is good for the community. Sales of our reusable bags have raised over $2M for not-for-profit groups across New Zealand in the past two years.
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Ethical Sourcing
We introduced our ethical sourcing programme in 2004 to protect the welfare of workers in our supply chain. Through our programme and policy, we actively monitor our supply factories to ensure workers are treated and paid fairly and are working in safe and ethical conditions that meet our strict policy standards.
We are part of joint international programmes to support worker livelihoods in the areas we operate such as the HerProject in Bangladesh and the Better Cotton Initiative - the world's largest sustainable cotton production programme.
Better Cotton Initiative
We are proud to be a member of The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) and we have committed to sourcing 50% of our cotton as Better Cotton by November 2024.
The BCI is the largest cotton sustainability programme in the world. It supports farmers in the cotton supply chain in implementing sustainable growing practices.
e-waste recycling programme
We've launched a free e-waste recycling programme at 16 our Noel Leeming stores nationwide. Noel Leeming is the exclusive retail partner of TechCollect NZ. Together, we're implementing a government-funded e-waste recycling trial nationwide. We hope this programme will help New Zealanders shift a significant amount of e-waste out of landfills and recover precious resources to be recycled.
Soft Plastics Recycling
Since the programme launch in The Warehouse stores in 2015, close to 15.5 million individual units of soft plastic have been collected and diverted from landfill. That equates to nearly 70 tonnes!
Sustainable Wood Forests
In 2015, we launched our Sustainable Paper and Timber policy which we created to ensure our wood and paper product ranges were not contributing to tropical hardwood deforestation and the associated biodiversity and carbon capture losses. That same year, we also began our partnership with The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which works to promote responsible management of the worlds forests.
Sustainable Product Ranges
As a business, we are prioritising the delivery of product packaging with reduced plastic, improved recyclability and reusability. Providing customers the ability to choose more sustainable products is a significant focus.
Opening sustainable stores Our brand new The Warehouse SWAS and Noel Leeming stores in Warkworth are our most energy efficient stores:
252 solar panels Built with smart technology Highly insultated to help reduce energy consumption Designed with wooden framing Collecting & conserving rainwater to use in our Garden Centre E-waste, Ink, Toner and soft plastics recycling
The Hydrogen Project We are proud to partner with Toyota NZ and several iconic Kiwi companies in The Hydrogen Project. - a car sharing scheme which trials new hydrogen technology as a way to reduce transport emissions.
At TWG, we always look at ways we can continue to Do Good, including expanding our carbon reduction initiatives right across our business and transitioning our light fleet to be fully carbon zero by 2025.
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