Waste and recycling
At Alliance Boots we encourage our people to do more towards reducing waste and increasing recycling. We want our people not just to recycle the waste they are responsible for, but also to look for ways to take waste out of the system. This is how we are endeavouring to create a truly sustainable business.
Waste by method of disposal
Total waste produced by the Group for the year ended 31 March 2009 was 71,600 tonnes, a year on year decrease of 1.2%* on a comparable basis (i.e. adjusting for acquisitions).
- * Data has been restated for the year ended 31 March 2008.
We are striving to develop projects that reduce the overall amount of waste we generate rather than just recycling more of what we produce. Initiatives to reduce waste creation include the removal of retail transit packaging at source.
Making progress in Russia
Since 2007 Alliance Healthcare Russia, our principal pharmaceutical wholesaling business in Russia, has been looking to increase the total amount of its waste materials being recycled. At the beginning of 2009, the business extended an agreement with a waste recycling business to remove recyclable materials on a monthly basis to the Kotlyakovo recycling centre on the outskirts of Moscow.
Another 'Big Tick'
In May 2008, we received a re-accreditation Big Tick Eco-efficiency award from Business in the Community for Boots UK's 'A Journey to Sustainability' programme, which aims to make best use of resources, minimising waste and recycling wherever possible.
