Retailer becomes the first supermarket to deploy GE’s new LED lighting system, promising energy savings of 59 per cent.
Sainsbury's has given its green credentials another polish this week, with the announcement that its new store in Leek, Staffordshire will feature an LED lighting system that promises to slash energy use by almost 60 per cent.
The company said that it has become the first supermarket in the world to install GE's new Lumination Linear Suspended lighting system, which not only takes advantage of highly efficient light emitting diodes (LEDs) but also includes daylight sensors to optimise the use of natural daylight.
According to Sainsbury's, the new lighting will cut energy use by 59 per cent compared to conventional in-store lighting, delivering annual energy savings equivalent to that required to make 10 million cups of tea.
The rollout is also expected to reduce maintenance costs and improve the shopping experience for customers by ensuring a uniform level of light across the store.
"Finding a lighting solution that won't compromise our customers' shopping experience yet can help reduce our environmental impact and deliver reduced carbon and energy savings is key to us achieving our stretching carbon target," said Paul Crewe, Sainsbury's head of sustainability, in a statement.
"We originally trialled the world-first installation of the new LED system in one of our local convenience stores in Scotland late last year and the initial findings were so positive that we decided to install it in our new Leek supermarket. We are confident that it will deliver an enhanced shopping experience as well as significant energy savings."
He added that the system would now be monitored closely as the company attempts to gauge whether to roll out the technology more widely.
The in-store lights are just one of a raft of green features deployed in the store as part of the company's high profile 20x20 sustainability programme, which last year saw Sainsbury's pledge to invest £1bn in green technology in an effort to reduce operational carbon emissions 30 per cent by 2020.
The Leek store also features a biomass boiler fuelled by sustainably certified wood pellets, rainwater harvesting and water efficiency measures designed to cut water use by 45 per cent compared to a store built in 2005, natural refrigeration systems, a commitment to send zero waste to landfill, and external LED lighting systems from GE for the car park and petrol station that are designed to deliver energy savings of 55 per cent.
The announcement came as Sainsbury's also announced it will today repeat the "Switch the Fish" initiative it pioneered last year, pledging to give away seven tonnes of lesser known British fish free of charge in an attempt to encourage people to try species that are not under pressure.
Customers ordering one of the "Big Five" species - cod, haddock, tuna, salmon and prawns - will be offered alternative species for free.
"Sainsbury's is committed to fishing responsibly and helping change UK fish eating habits," said chief executive Justin King. "We know our customers care about responsibly sourced food and this is a great opportunity for them to try some alternative British fish for free."
The move comes in the same week as the Marine Stewardship Council announced it was removing mackerel from its list of species that are OK to eat amid fears that the species is being overfished.
The Switch the Fish campaign has won plaudits for promoting species that are under less pressure from over-fishing, but an update last summer on the impact of the initiative confirmed that while it had led to an increase in demand for less popular species there had not been a corresponding fall in demand for the Big Five species of fish.
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