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We Live Here Too
We take our commitment to sustainability very seriously. We consider that our operations are sustainable when they are socially responsible, environmentally sound and economically viable.
Our team is always looking for new ways to improve the sustainability of our operations and to “do the right thing”
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 Helping to Make Sustainability Easier and More Affordable |
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Bunnings reinforced its leadership stance and commitment to sustainability in May 2007 with a two year, $8 million investment in new environmental projects and commitments. This included:
- Plans to fit every Bunnings Warehouse store in sub-tropical mainland Australia with rainwater harvesting systems - $6 million over two years; and
- A goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2015 or earlier with new programs to accelerate the drive to achieve the goal - $2 million over two years.
An update on these actions and other ongoing initiatives is provided below.
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 Water Saving |
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Our approach to water and energy conservation is to lead by example in what we sell, what we do, and the information we provide to customers.
As of June 2008 we’ve now installed rainwater harvesting equipment at 50 Australian mainland stores with more to follow over the coming 12 months.
After a successful trial most Australian stores moved to hand watering of nursery product in June 2008, resulting in a reduction in daily average water use of around 10,000 litres.
Other initiatives over the past two years have included the installation of 199 waterless urinals in Australian offices, stores and operational sites, as well as basin tap flow restrictors and half flush cistern adaptors where possible.
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| Lowering Greenhouse Gas Emissions |
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We’re actively reducing our energy emissions in stores through the following initiatives:
Energy efficient lighting systems:
- Since December 2007 e-tronic energy efficient lighting has now been installed in 12 Australian stores, with a further 27 planned for retrofitting before June 2009.
- 60 warehouse stores have been fitted with a night-switching device for reduced energy consumption during night fill work.
Our carbon offset project with Landcare CarbonSMART has allowed us to offset 16,000 tonnes of our 2007/08 carbon emissions through planting of native revegetation on freehold land.
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A research partnership with Western Australia’s Murdoch University Research Institute which has provided a detailed assessment of our energy use and identified potential future options for new building specifications and refits.
From January to June 2008 we purchased five per cent of our total Australian electricity needs from renewable energy sources.
As of June 2008 we have introduced 55 hybrid vehicles into our current fleet, making up 29 per cent of the total company fleet.
As always, we continue to focus on providing the latest information on products and projects to help customers save on their energy use and support sustainable living.
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| Reduce Reuse and Recycle |
Bunnings recycling goal is to focus on how we can improve the way we reduce, reuse and recycle throughout our business and operations.
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During 2007/08 our total landfill waste reduced by 22 per cent and our recycling rates doubled from 12.5 per cent to 25 per cent.
Other initiatives have included:
- Ongoing work with suppliers to reduce packaging waste
- Reuse and recycling of cardboard in all stores
- Use of web and e-newsletter to reduce paper waste
- Two product recycling trials were conducted including a Plastic Plant Pot Recycling Trial in 23 Western Australian stores and a Power Tool and Battery Recycling Trial at five Victorian stores.
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| Bunnings has also joined the Australasian Battery Recycling Initiative as the primary retail partner and remains committed to ongoing actions in this area. |
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| Plastic Bag Reduction |
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We continue our industry leading initiative to eliminate plastic shopping bag use.
As of April 2008 Bunnings removed single use plastic bags from every store in New Zealand and Australia. Bunnings has a range of woven bags available and cardboard boxes are also provided for customer use where required.
For over 3 years prior to April 2008, our voluntary 10 cent plastic bag levy in Australian stores allowed us to donate more than $180,000 to the Keep Australia Beautiful Council. During this period, around 200 million bags were potentially removed from the waste and litter stream and over 1.5 million reusable bags were sold.
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| Timber and Wood Policy |
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In 2003 we established a Timber and Wood Products Purchasing policy that requires all wood and wood products to originate from legal and well managed forest operations. Our aim is to achieve this as quickly as practicable. We are working with our suppliers to independently verify original forest source, and we are also seeing more paintable alternatives like MDF and jointed pine coming into our stores.
As at June 2008 more than 95 per cent of our whole timber product is being sourced from low risk plantation or other legally verified forest operations (with zero tolerance for illegally logged timber).
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| Reports |
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The 2008 Community Report Card and the recent Sustainability Update provide additional information on Bunnings ongoing sustainability commitments.
Community Report Card 2008
Case Studies
Sustainability Update April 2008
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The Wesfarmers Social Responsibility Report provides a detailed insight into the heart of our day to day business practices covering our health, safety and environmental performance as well as our terrific community involvement activities. What we do in these areas is a very tangible part of “who we are”. This reporting is voluntary and publicly demonstrates our commitment to continually improving our performance in these areas. By reporting in this way, we make ourselves accountable to achieve improvements.
Wesfarmers Social Responsibility Report 2008
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