TORONTO, Aug. 12 /CNW/ - Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited (CTC, CTC.a) affirms its commitment to business sustainability with three primary aspirations - profitably grow the business without increasing the net carbon footprint of the economy, eliminate unnecessary packaging while sending zero waste to landfills, and provide innovative products and services that meet customers' needs without compromising future generations.
"Canadian Tire's business sustainability strategy goes beyond a 'green initiative'," said Tyler Elm, Vice President of Business Sustainability, Canadian Tire Corporation. "Our goal is to implement sustainable practices that positively impact energy and climate, waste and packaging, and product and service innovation. The end result is a strategy that advances the business while benefiting customers and the environment."
Scrap tires become quality car mats
In Canada, nearly 33 million tires are discarded every year. In 2009, Canadian Tire helped develop and fund Ontario's used tire program, which collects and recycles 11 million scrap tires annually. Beginning September 2010, Canadian Tire's exclusive Blue Planet® brand will expand to include car mats made from these recycled tires. The vendor, Multy Home based in Concord Ontario, uses the tires from the recycling program, which means the tires that were once on the customer's car, could eventually be under their feet.
"Our approach to sustainability involves looking at the life cycle of a product - from vendors and sourcing, to recovery and recycling, and then to transporting that product to stores in the most energy efficient and cost productive manner", said Elm. "The Blue Planet® car mats are an example of how we bring our stewardship full circle, with the end result being a quality product for our customer. One pair of car mats removes one tire from landfills, so it's truly a win-win for the environment and the economy."
Eco-efficiency at stores and on the road
In addition to sustainable product innovations, Canadian Tire's business sustainability strategy also seeks to improve energy productivity at the stores and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- Approximately 200 Canadian Tire Retail stores are presently being
equipped with a computer-based Central Energy Management (CEM)
technology. This will bring the total number of stores with CEM up to
300. The CEM system automates and controls the energy needs of the
stores, including building temperatures, thermal comfort, and
lighting adjustments, based on the schedule of the store. It provides
regular, on-going data about the store's energy consumption, and
alerts managers to problems or inefficiencies in the mechanical
systems. The estimated annual avoided energy cost is approximately
$3.4 million for 200 stores. The energy saved in the new centrally
managed stores will also reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by an
estimated 7629 metric tonnes (eCO2), and is equivalent to removing
1149 cars from the road. To date, 45 stores have been converted.
- In May, Canadian Tire announced the replacement of its vehicle fleet
with new trucks possessing the latest generation in low-emissions
diesel engine technology. In July this year, 30 trucks were replaced
and an additional 40 will be replaced by 2013. These trucks are among
the cleanest transportation technology that can be found anywhere in
the country.
Sustainability in the community
Canadian Tire is also pleased to announce a partnership with the City of Toronto's Live Green Toronto program. As part of this two year initiative, Canadian Tire will be the key retail sponsor in the annual Live Green Toronto Festival being held in Toronto on August 28-29. Canadian Tire will also be the exclusive retail partner for the City's Cut It Out Toronto program, which offers customers the opportunity to return their old gas powered lawn and snow removal equipment during the City's Community Environment Days or at special events at four selected Canadian Tire stores in Toronto. A $25 Canadian Tire Bonus Card will be offered to customers who return this equipment to purchase newer, more efficient equipment or other environmentally preferable products. Canadian Tire will also be providing grants to fund four winning environmental projects in the community.
In addition, every year Canadian Tire partners with utility companies across the country such as Ontario Power Authority, BC Hydro, Manitoba Hydro, SaskPower and Nova Scotia Power to offer customers incentives on the purchase of energy efficient products or for trading in their older, inefficient items to help reduce household energy consumption.
The active management of energy and carbon issues is a foundational element of the Canadian Tire's business sustainability strategy. Starting in Q3 2010, Canadian Tire will be one of the first Canadian publicly traded companies to include and report on sustainability metrics in its quarterly and year-end financial reporting. It will match widely-accepted criteria with sector-specific metrics affecting supply chain, packaging, and retailing of products.
Note to editors:
(xx) High resolution images are available upon request of Tyler Elm with
Mayor David Miller in partnership for the Live Green Toronto initiative.
ABOUT CANADIAN TIRE
Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited (TSX: CTC.a, CTC), is one of Canada's most shopped general retailers with 480 Canadian Tire stores across the country. Our core retail and automotive operation is strengthened by PartSource, an automotive parts speciality chain; Canadian Tire Petroleum, one of the country's largest independent retailers of gasoline; Mark's "Clothes That Work," a leading retailer of men's, women's and work apparel; and, Canadian Tire Financial Services, which has issued over five million Canadian Tire MasterCard credit cards. More than 58,000 Canadians work across Canadian Tire's organization from coast-to-coast in the enterprise's retail, financial services and petroleum businesses.