Our milestones
Sustainability has been integral to our business activity for decades. These milestones testify to this and we work hard on new projects each year.
Sustainability has been integral to our business activity for decades. These milestones testify to this and we work hard on new projects each year.
We were the first retailer in Switzerland to introduce a project for living wages in the Dominican Republic together with Fairtrade Max Havelaar. With additional projects in Ghana and Honduras, we are pursuing our goal of improving the income situation of smallholder farmers and enabling a decent standard of living in the long term.
Our new packaging roadmap summarizes our efforts in the area of packaging reduction: Packaging is due to be optimized and, by 2026, we should be saving around 20% of plastic in packaging and single-use items. Processes from suppliers to sales outlets are being increasingly considered as cycles, recyclable materials are being reused and material loss is being continuously reduced.
We were the first major retailer in Switzerland to be certified for our commitment to fair wages. The «Fair Compensation» certificate confirms that our remuneration policy satisfies the criteria for compliance with fair wages, ensuring all of our employees receive the same chances regardless of gender and background.
25 years of Coop Naturaline: Since 1995, we have focused on environmentally and socially responsible textile production with Coop Naturaline. Today, Naturaline offers the world's largest range of fair and environmentally-friendly organic cotton textiles. Naturaline is synonymous with 100% fair production, transparency in the supply chain and CO2 neutrality.
To promote sustainable consumption and the protection of the environment, Coop has extended its successful long-term partnership with WWF until 2024. Together with the WWF, for instance, we have commitments in the areas of fish, palm oil, soya, timber and paper. We also undertake joint projects with the aim of saving energy and reducing and offsetting CO2 emissions.
The WWF has given Switzerland's most important wholesaler and retailer a new environmental rating. Coop has risen further up the rankings since the last rating in 2015 in almost every area of action. Coop’s sustainability achievements have been called «pioneering» and referred to as «visionary» in a number of areas.
On Saturday, 25 May 2019, Coop called for the first «Day of good deeds». Together with five major partners, Coop aims to motivate people to do as many good deeds as possible, thus generating positive momentum throughout Switzerland. Hundreds of thousands of volunteers took part in the «Day of good deeds» and displayed their solidarity with their fellow humans and their environment.