Tesco creates tool to gauge the greenness of its stores

Called the Environmental Design Tool, it has been created by Tesco’s environmental design team in collaboration with consulting group PE International. The environmental modelling software provides an unbiased assessment of different materials and products.

Tesco environmental design manager Richard Denton said: “We have done extensive work to think about the impact of our buildings but didn’t want to stop at the door. This new piece of software allows us to think about every item we put inside our stores, from signage and shelving to service desks and trolleys.”

The grocer’s design managers can use the tool to consider factors such as carbon footprint, recycled content and pollutants from manufacturing. The user simply enters the weight of the different materials that make up a particular product and the software then produces a report with graphs and recommendations.

Denton explained: “There are so many different environmental factors to consider so we wanted something that would help us to make the right decision. It had to be analytically robust, simple to use and provide information in a way that is easy to understand and leads to making the right choices.”

Tesco has given all its equipment suppliers access to the tool, free of charge, so it can work with them to reduce the environmental impact of all of
its equipment.

For instance, the design team has identified an alternative material to make store signage from that has a carbon footprint 80 per cent smaller than the original signage. The material is made from honeycomb cardboard and is just as strong as alternatives, but can be recycled along with a store’s waste.

Tesco said that it will add or replace almost 6,000 signs next year, saving more than 300 tonnes of carbon and 8,500 tonnes of embodied water.