Tribune News Network
Doha
LULU Group has expanded its sustainability stewardship by obtaining carbon neutral certification for its Al Meshaf Store.
The store becomes the first carbon neutral hypermarket in the GCC.
The carbon neutrality for the store has been achieved in accordance with the UK’s PAS 2060 standard by following detailed process including carbon management plan, reduction of carbon emissions and offsetting of the remaining emissions.
LuLu Hypermarket, the retail division of Lulu Group International - the multidimensional and multinational conglomerate - has always been known as a trend setter of the retail industry in the GCC region.LuLu’s operations cover business divisions in retail segment for the popular hypermarket brand, shopping mall destinations, food processing plants, wholesale distribution, hospitality properties, and real estate development.
Dr. Mohamed Althaf, Director of Lulu Group International, said: “We are delighted to achieve the carbon neutrality status for Lulu’s Al Meshaf Branch. We operate as an environmentally conscious one-stop shop for daily essentials and unique product offerings for a multi-ethnic client profile living in and around the area.”
“This remarkable achievement is the result of the unwavering commitment of Lulu Group to circularity in our business and has been the result of various path-breaking initiatives undertaken by our store”, he added.
Dr Altaf has been instrumental in driving the sustainability agenda in LULU Qatar, along with an amazing and enthusiastic technical team.
Clean Globe Consultancy has supported the LULU Group to achieve this accolade. LULU currently operates 22 outlets in Qatar and is committed to be more sustainable and climate friendly across all its value chain.
The recipient of the Sustainability Award 2019 at the Qatar Sustainability Summit, and as leading retailer exercising sustainable best practices, Lulu paved the way in its commitment to sustainability by taking real and demonstrable measures to protect the environment and contribute to reducing carbon emissions and food waste. LuLu has always highlighted its efforts to promote environment-friendly practices in its operations and stores in Qatar, and in the community at large.
LuLu Group has framed its own strategy on sustainability, which is put into practice in all its retail units and supply chains worldwide. LuLu is deeply committed to reducing its impact on the environment and taking real lasting steps to ensure this, aligned with Qatar National Vision 2030.
The group’s ongoing efforts to reduce energy, water, waste, and to promote healthy eating has achieved sustainable operations certification for various outlets in Qatar.The project and the operations team is already working on this broader dream by taking appropriate measures of studying and identifying the areas for reduction opportunities in energy, water, and waste.
Some of the achievements, and sustainable best practices implemented by the Lulu team are as follows:
• GSAS- Op Certification - Lulu Hypermarket in Qatar has become one of the first retailers in MENA to achieve sustainable operations certification under the Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) from the Gulf Organisation for Research & Development (GORD).
•Lulu Group Qatar has won the prestigious Tarsheed Award for Sustainability and Energy Efficiency at the 10th anniversary celebration of the National Programme for Conservation and Energy Efficiency (Tarsheed) run by Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) in the category: “Tarsheed Conserving Building Competition”or its excellence in the respective field being only private sector business in Qatar to achieve the targeted reduction of electricity and water consumption.
•Building Management System- BMS has been installed for building to efficiently manage the assets associated with the building ventilation and lighting.
•Cloud Energy Optimization System-Honey well forge has been installed to efficiently manage and optimize the energy used during the operations.
•LED- Use of LED are being encouraged for the upcoming projects and existing projects being gradually shifted to LED from conventional lights.
•Light Control System- light control systems assisted with motion sensors are being considered to optimize the use of energy especially in the warehouse operations.
•Designing new buildings with energy efficiency in mind.
•Energy efficient chillers- procurement of new energy efficient chillers that optimize the use of energy and increasing the cooling efficiency.
•Submeter for Tenants- to manage the water consumption and energy submeters are being implemented in tenant spaces.
•Dual Flush system for WC- New projects are being encouraged to use double flush system to reduce the water usage.
•Waste segregation and separation from the source- Outlets are being encouraged to segregate their waste for easy disposal and collection. Three compartment bins are implemented in all general areas to encourage customers in waste segregation.
•Food Waste Digesters- food waste digesters are being used to efficiently manage the food waste generated in the operation. An innovative food waste solution named ORCA which recycles food waste by breaking it down into water (mainly), and some carbs, fats and proteins which are then captured or repurposed. This is currently being trailed at Lulu’s Bin Mahmoud store.
•Reverse Vending Machines has been procured and implemented in multiple outlets to encourage and educate customers on segregation and recycling of plastic bottles and cans.
•Reusable Bags has been introduced and promoted in all the outlets encouraging customers to reuse their shopping bags there by reducing the fresh plastic in the system.
•Recycle- recycling of paper waste and oil waste are done and encouraged throughout with the help of recycling partners that efficiently divert these materials from landfill and recycle them back into the system.
•Reduce the amount of plastic in packaging.
-Introduction of Refilling Stations
-Introduction of Kraft paper bags
-Biodegradable Packaging made with sugarcane pulp, used for packing inhouse kitchen products.
•Be efficient and eliminate waste in our operations
-Controlled production
-Controlled ordering of raw materials
•Increase in the consumption of locally sourced ingredients.
•Promoting sustainable suppliers and products.
•Introduction of plant-based food options.
Going forward, Lulu Group is planning for the installation of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in store parking lots to help decarbonize mobility and for using more electric vehicles.
