SUNBURY, Pa. — Weis Markets on Monday released its first corporate sustainability report, outlining the various initiatives the company has enacted to lessen its impact on the environment.
The report highlights Weis Markets’ continuing goals and vision for a greener tomorrow and also shares a five-year snapshot of collected data, including a 15.5% reduction in carbon emissions despite the company expanding store operations.
“We have always been a responsible and earth-conscious company. But over the past five years, we have significantly upgraded our sustainability program,” David J. Hepfinger, president and chief executive officer of Weis Markets, said in a statement. “With the wheels firmly in motion, we are now seeing strong sustainability results and wanted to share these successes with our valued customers, associates and shareholders.”
In 2012, the company saved $2.7 million by reducing its electricity usage and another $1.8 million in landfill fees, recycling more than 65 million pounds of waste, Weis said. It also opened its first LEED-registered store in Fogelsville, Pa., introduced 100% recyclable meat trays for select Weis fresh meat products and expanded its closed-loop composting program to 30 of its stores.
Read more: Weis Selling Store-Derived Compost
Weis Markets completed its first greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions assessment in 2008, compliant with the World Resources Institute’s GHG Protocol Corporate Standard. The inventory accounts for all known Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions resulting from Weis Markets’ business operations and serves as its baseline report.
"We conducted a comprehensive audit of all our stores, warehouses, manufacturing facilities, as well as our corporate headquarters, analyzing our electricity, refrigeration emissions, gas and diesel fuel usage, fleet size and vehicle fuel consumption,” Patti Olenick, sustainability manager for Weis Markets, said. “With the assessment data in hand, we’ve been working tirelessly to increase the efficiency of our stores’ operations systems and have incorporated energy-efficiency measures to lower our energy consumption, fossil fuel dependence and carbon emissions.”
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