Inspiring ESG Trends: Europe Retail & e-Commerce (30th March)

• Aldi (IT), in partnership with Plastic Bank, finances the collection of 10 plastic bottles for each package of strawberries, blueberries or raspberries sold in its stores.
• ASDA (UK) extends ‘Happy to Chat’ initiative with its delivery drivers to letting customers know that they are happy to have a quick chat whilst their shopping is being delivered.
• British Retail Consortium (UK) launches the insightful report "Diversity and Inclusion in UK Retail: Where are we now and what comes next?" with over 50 retailers pledging to improve their D&I practices.
• Decathlon (UK) launches a new website for customers to purchase "Second Life" refurbished products with discounts up to 40% (including bikes, fitness equipment, weights, tents, scooters and kayaks). Decathlon hopes to save 40,000kg of CO2 over 12 months.
• L’Oréal (FR), in partnership with Carrefour and TerraCycle, launches in-store cosmetics packaging recycling. All make-up product packaging is sent for recycling into plastic granules used to make benches and outdoor furniture.
• LVMH (WW), in partnership with UNESCO, launches a €5B biodiversity strategy to combat deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. This is part of their "LIFE 360" programme to reduce its impact on ecosystems by rehabilitating 5M hectares of natural habitats.

A note from me: In both my day job at Amazon and through my tutoring work with the University of Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership (CISL), I regularly come across interesting and inspiring news about the progress Retail companies are making on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) journeys. In an effort to share that knowledge, and grow the list of examples that other professional's like myself benefit from having at their finger tips, I thought I'd try out a regular 'News you can use' article here on LinkedIn. I'm going to run this article series for a month and rely on your feedback as to whether this is valuable/ you would like me to continue. Please also add to this list if there is any positive news you're seeing!