“For food retail and for Carrefour, the main area of ​​impact is certainly the product, both from the perspective of carbon footprint, as well as from the perspective of activity and volumes. Then we talk about our internal activity and we can mention the electricity consumption, because we also have a production area (bakery, gastronomy etc.). Another area with a high impact on the environment is the logistics area, the transport between warehouses and stores, and from stores to the customer where we make deliveries. These are the three main areas where we focus our sustainability policies,” Alexandru Ropota, GNFR Procurement Director, Carrefour Romania said during Sustainability in Business Forum organized by The Diplomat-Bucharest and Sustainability Today.

“We have colleagues in each location who are very responsible and attentive to aspects related to sustainability. A few years ago, we started some clear actions to reduce consumption, not only with actions for employees, but also with actions carried out by the company, respectively investments.

We perform analyses every 10 days and compare similar stores from the perspective of consumption per square meter. All messages reach our colleagues and have information on how they are positioned in relation to similar stores.

All our locations use only LED lighting installations, we try every year to budget investments for upgrading the equipment.

We have changed the approach to acquisitions and are looking at a total cost of ownership. If we take the lowest price on the market, we can end up with higher maintenance costs, higher energy consumption or even both. It is very important to pay attention to both the maintenance costs and especially the electricity consumption.

We have a well-established target. By 2030, we want to reduce energy consumption by 27.5 percent compared to 2018. We are very advanced in this regard, and the objective will be reached much ahead of schedule.

We must have the courage and responsibility to set bold objectives regarding sustainability, regardless of the size of the company, because that’s the only way we can move things faster in a positive direction.”