The Courtauld Commitment is a responsibility deal aimed at improving resource efficiency and reducing the carbon and wider environmental impact of the grocery retail sector. 
First year progress results show that signatories are already half way to achieving the packaging reduction target and three quarters of the way to reaching the household food waste objectives. The supply chain impact is significantly less at only 0.4% but this is a new area for the Commitment and will be an area of additional focus going forward.
| First Year Results (2009 vs 2010) |
First year reduction
|
3-year target
|
Packaging
|
5.1% |
10% |
Household food and drink waste
|
3.0% |
4% |
Supply chain product and packaging waste
|
0.4% |
5% |
The Courtauld Commitment helps businesses, consumers and local authorities to save money, improve performance and reduce their carbon footprint. It specifically helps businesses to:
- Reduce costs.
- Improve the resource efficiency of products and their packaging.
- Better position organisations for a carbon-constrained future.
- Deliver against consumer expectations.
- Help drive innovation in the sector.
The Commitment and Targets
Phase 2 follows the original Courtauld Commitment (Phase 1), launched in 2005. It moves away from solely weight-based targets and aims to achieve more sustainable use of resources over the entire lifecycle of products, throughout the whole supply chain.
At the launch of Phase 2 on 4th March 2010, 29 major retailers and brand owners had already pledged their commitment to this voluntary agreement. In 2011 there are now 53 signatories. Measurement of the Courtauld Commitment 2 targets is from January 2010 to December 2012. The three targets are outlined below.
- Packaging – to reduce the weight, increase recycling rates and increase the recycled content of all grocery packaging, as appropriate. Through these measures the aim is to reduce the carbon impact of this grocery packaging by 10%.
- Household food and drink waste – to reduce UK household food and drink waste by 4%.
- Supply chain product and packaging waste – to reduce traditional grocery product and packaging waste in the grocery supply chain by 5% - including both solid and liquid wastes.
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