Climate Protection

[GRI 302/103-1/2, 305/103-1/2] We are committed to reducing the impact of our business operations on the climate. Back in 2015, we specified in our Corporate Responsibility (CR) Policy that we aim to act in a climate friendly manner. We have set an ambitious climate target for ourselves in our Climate Protection Policy, adopted in 2018, in which we establish the framework for taking extensive action. Through these efforts, we are doing our part to help achieve the targets specified in the Paris Climate Agreement* and realise Sustainable Development Goal 13 “Climate action” outlined in Agenda 2030 of the United Nations (UN).

[GRI 302/103-2/3, 305/103-2/3] ALDI North has set a clear climate target for itself: We undertake to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions throughout the Group by 40 per cent by 2021 compared to our 2015 levels. This target applies to all emissions that we ourselves cause in the course of our business activities (Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions). Our targets and measures have been compiled in our International Climate Protection Policy.

Our climate strategy has a long-term trajectory and two key focal points:

• We seek to save energy, refrigerants and fuel through efficiency measures, and we are starting with those areas where consumption is greatest.
• We aim to draw more electricity from renewable energy sources. This includes generating renewable electricity ourselves as well as purchasing it more and more frequently.

Our carbon footprint breaks down our greenhouse gas emissions by emission source and provides us with starting points for our climate protection measures. It is determined in accordance with the internationally recognised standard set by the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol and audited by a certified auditor.

To ensure that climate protection efforts are made consistently across operations, climate protection must become a business variable, which is why we will be setting an internal price per tonne of CO₂ over the course of 2018. The plan is to apply this price to all emissions-relevant investment decisions. By taking these steps, we aim to make climate protection an integral part of our business processes.

[GRI 302/103-1/2, 305/103-1/2]

We finished developing the ALDI North climate strategy in the 2017 reporting year. As part of the development process, we assessed climate protection projects that have already been carried out and explored potential new avenues for taking climate action. The analysis revealed a wide range of potential climate protection measures. Using individual criteria, the ALDI companies of a given country decide which of these measures is most suitable for reaching their country-specific climate targets.

Lighting the retail space accounts for around one quarter of a store’s electricity consumption, which is why LED lighting technology has been installed at new stores in all countries since 2016. Such technology uses up to 50 per cent less electricity than our previous lighting system. In 2017, we began switching over the lighting systems for the retail space at our existing stores in most countries to LED, including the lighting used for the chiller cabinets and freezers. As LEDs generate less heat than other types of lighting, less electricity is needed for cooling purposes. At our updated stores, we are reducing the need for artificial lighting through windows that extend to the ground and take a needs-based approach to lighting our retail spaces outside of opening hours. We also use LED technology to light outdoor areas, parking lots, storerooms and side rooms.

Refrigeration represents another aspect for greater climate protection efforts at our stores. Frozen items are presented in freezer cabinets, including upright freezers at our new stores. For our stores in Germany, for example, we now only purchase freezer cabinets that use natural refrigerants. Thanks to regulated speed compressors and LED lighting, these freezers use up to 35 per cent less electricity than older models of the same size. Since 2017, most new and renovated stores in Germany have been using CO2 refrigeration technology for the chiller cabinets. The integrated CO2 systems in new buildings are also used for heating. They recover the heat from the refrigeration process, in addition to the heat from the exhaust air.

The new technology will be joined by a comprehensive energy data management system. We rolled out a system for all of our stores and distribution centres in Germany in 2017 which provides up-to-date data on energy consumption. We are using an energy management system at 40 stores in Spain to digitally record and centrally assess energy use among the main consumers. We will be introducing an energy management system in conformity with ISO 50001 in the Netherlands in 2018.

Reducing the refrigerant leak rate is an important element in our climate strategy. In addition to regular leakage tests, we completed the nationwide rollout of a digital monitoring system at our German locations in 2017. Data recording and evaluation enable the system to provide a rapid overview of all the cooling systems. We are currently working on the system’s nationwide rollout in France and the Netherlands.

At the same time, we have begun to increasingly replace the refrigerants used to date with climate-friendlier alternatives. In Germany, we are gradually switching over all (deep-)freezers to the natural refrigerant propane (R290), which has very low global warming potential. Our new CO₂ cooling systems use CO₂ as a refrigerant.

Between 2015 and 2017, we reduced emissions resulting from refrigerant losses by 16 per cent to around 99,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents.

In Belgien und Deutschland planen wir in unseren Logistikzentren eine Umrüstung der Beleuchtung auf LED; in Dänemark ist dies bereits erfolgt. Zum Jahresende 2017 hatten wir in der gesamten Unternehmensgruppe bereits 27 von 73 Logistikzentren auf LED-Technik umgerüstet; zwei der Lager wurden zum Ende 2017 geschlossen. Insgesamt erwarten wir durch die Umstellung eine jährliche Einsparung von bis zu 3.000 Tonnen CO₂-Emissionen. Darüber hinaus evaluieren wir in den Logistikzentren den Einsatz von bedarfsangepasster Beleuchtung mit Bewegungsmeldern und Lichtsensoren.

The roofs of many stores and distribution centres are equipped with photovoltaic systems. In 2017, the installed capacity of our systems already stood at more than 32,000 kWp (kilowatt peak) and produced more than 23,000 MWh of electricity. We avoided some 6,600 tonnes of CO2 emissions as a result. By 2021, we intend to install an additional nominal capacity of more than 50,000 kWp through more systems. Plans call for 120 systems at ALDI France alone. In 2018/19, another 18 systems will join the 40 others already installed at ALDI Belgium. At the end of 2017, ALDI Portugal already had 16 solar installations in place, and plans call for installing around 5,000 kWp of additional capacity there by 2021.

We currently use approximately 70 per cent of the generated electricity ourselves; the remainder is fed into the power grid. We want to increase the amount of energy for own use, which is why we are testing the use of storage technology that would enable us to use the generated electricity at a later time. To this end, ALDI North Germany has already equipped three pilot stores with an innovative ice storage system as part of the ESyCool green project. In February 2018, our project partner Viessmann received the German Innovation Award for Climate and the Environment (IKU) 2017 for this solution in the category for process innovations. We will decide on the system’s further rollout once the test phase is complete.

Despite additional photovoltaic systems, we will still draw the majority of our electricity from the grid in the years ahead. In order to meet our climate target, we are therefore currently planning to draw more green electricity by 2021. ALDI Netherlands began fully sourcing its electricity from green sources back in 2015. In 2017, the electricity was drawn entirely from wind power from Europe. As a result, we saved more than 40,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents in 2017. We are currently developing strict criteria for the purchase of green electricity.

[GRI 302/103-2/3, 305/103-2/3] In our Climate Protection Policy, we have set ourselves the goal of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent by 2021 compared to our 2015 levels. In the name of efficient monitoring, we regularly compile updates on the progress of projects and emission data for the entire Group. The CR department then assesses this information and analyses it within the expert committee established for that purpose. If a given measure does not produce the intended effect, new measures are then discussed. We regularly report to internal and external stakeholders on where we stand as a Group in our efforts to reach our climate target.

* Paris Agreement
The Paris Agreement is an agreement between the 195 member states of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Adopted on 12 December 2015 at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, it aims to limit anthropogenic global warming to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels.