Building a greener planet is everyone’s responsibility

Kuwait-headquartered regional retail conglomerate Alshaya Group’s sustainability strategy is centred around three pillars, including circularity, climate action and communities.

Alongside supporting local governments to achieve their net zero commitments, reducing operational waste and expanding takeback programmes to help customers reduce waste are among major commitments for Alshaya Group.

“We do a lot of work to avoid sending things to landfills. We recycle much of our store fit-out when we close a store. We recycle our electronics & computers, and we find new homes for our excess stock. But inevitably, there are still things we don’t have a solution for. Being able to divert all our waste from operational and customer landfills would be a massive win for us and the planet,” opined Seneca Cottom, the Group’s Head of Sustainability.

Any ESG centric measures take time to build. But asked if she had a magic wand, what’s that one ESG goal she would like to achieve overnight, Cottom said, “If I had a magic wand, I would use it to identify how each waste stream could be reused and turned into new products.”

Alshaya Group’s ESG milestones at a glance

• 2023: Launched a circular recycling pilot at some of its restaurants in the UAE to segregate waste and create new food-grade packaging products from plastic water bottles. 50% waste reduction achieved by restaurants that participated in this pilot.
• Reduced operational waste by offering textile and shoe recycling opportunities at H&M, American Eagle, Foot Locker, Harvey Nichols Kuwait, Milano and West Elm. The plan is to expand this programme across its brand portfolio. Moreover, customers can bring back their empty Body Shop packaging in Kuwait to the stores to be recycled properly.
• Rescued excess stock from ending up in landfill by selling to employees at heavily discounted prices, donating to charities and as a very last option, sending for textile recycling.
• 2024: Donated 58,000 items to 10 charities in 8 markets.
• 40% reduction in electricity usage through LED light retrofit programme.
• The Alshaya Kuwait Headquarters received LEED Platinum certification.
• Onboarded 117+ vendors onto SEDEX – to align them with our code of conduct, including fair treatment of their workers, equal and fair wages, non-discrimination and health and safety requirements for their employees, among others – and received 39 workplace audits.

Embedding ESG into the business

Alshaya Group is working towards embedding sustainability and ESG governance throughout its business functions. In this context, Cottom said, “This year, we worked with a leading consulting firm to identify gaps in our ESG structure to ensure that we align with global best practices.” 

“For instance, we are actively testing and implementing technology to monitor and reduce our electricity across our network of over 4,000 stores, warehouses and offices, which will significantly reduce our carbon footprint. We are committed to working with our local governments to ensure that we support the achievement of their net zero commitments in ways that make sense for our business and our customers.”

Further, having received the Best Place to Work award in KSA, Alshaya Group is working towards accomplishing this achievement in all its markets. “To achieve this, we have made several policy changes and added employee benefits that impact SDG 3, (Good Health and Wellbeing), SDG5 (Gender Equality), SDG 8 (Decent work and economic growth),” Cottom shared.

Staying with SDGs, since building a greener planet for the future generations is everyone’s responsibility, Cottom has been collaborating meaningfully to create a lasting impact.

“As a sustainability leader, I’m a member of the CSO (Chief Sustainability Officers) Network, a UAE-based group of professionals leading sustainability for corporate organisations. The group – initiated by the CSO of ADNOC and governed by the Posterity Institute – was started last year to bring together sustainability professionals from various sectors to identify ways to collaborate and make tangible impact in our region.  Access to these leaders helps us to share best practices and push organisations to move further and faster in our sustainability journeys.”

Pick up the August edition of IMAGES RetailME Magazine to read our Annual ESG Report featuring initiatives and efforts by regional and international brands from the world of retail.

Rupkatha B