Lidl parent Schwarz Group plans to install 5,000 photovoltaic systems across its business by 2025, with an output of around 700,000-kilowatt peaks.
The company will add around 3,700 new photovoltaic systems across its estates by 2025 to reach this target, with Germany featuring 1,600 systems.
Schwarz Group added that it has been sourcing all of its electricity from renewable resources since the beginning of 2022, except for procurement contracts that it cannot influence, such as individual rental properties with a power purchase obligation.
In December of last year, the group has published a progress report, sharing details of its sustainability strategy, focussing around four areas – people, product quality, closed-loop systems, and ecosystems.
The report entitled Klartext reden. Nachhaltig handeln. Fortschritte zeigen also presented group-wide sustainability measures and indicators in a transparent manner.
Renewable Energy
The group generated around 130 million kilowatt-hours of energy from renewable resources in the 2020 financial year, registering an increase of 63% compared to the previous year.
The electricity generated is equivalent to the requirements of 30,000 households, the retailer noted.
As of 2020, the area covered by Schwarz Group's photovoltaic system spans around one million square metres.
This corresponds to around 140 football pitches - and represents an increase of around 260,000 square metres compared to the previous year.
Lidl is aiming to reduce food waste across its stores with the introduction of ‘rescue bags’, consisting of imperfect fruit and vegetables that would normally be thrown out.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest A-Brands news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
