Water is used throughout the company’s business but is “more material” to Woolworths’ supply chain, where it depends on Australian farmers for reliable supplies of fresh food, the report says.

Woolworths’ Fresh Food Future program, in partnership with Landcare Australia, has funded projects that have improved water efficiency and the understanding of water usage in food production. Bratasha Farm, in Queensland, has been a supplier to Woolworths since its establishment almost two decades ago and currently supplies various vegetables through a hydroponic system. Funding from the program enabled the installation of a water storage tank and water treatment technology. Water will now be reused two or three times at the site, saving an estimated 7 million liters, and fertilizer use is expected to be reduced by 30 to 40 percent, the report says.

The company’s waste intensity dropped around 4.5 percent from 45 metric tons per million Australian dollars of revenue in 2011 to 43 metric tons in 2012. Waste to landfill from Supermarkets Australia, BIG W and PEL reduced by 16.7 percent, the report says.

Strategies employed to reduce waste include improved ordering systems and stock rotation aimed at preventing food going out of date. The company also tries to discounting blemished produce or products with damaged packaging to generates sales rather than waste. Furthermore, partnerships with food banks and local food charities, and diversion programs to composting and waste to energy facilities, have diverted a total of 6,713 metric tons of food waste from landfill in Australia, the report says, although it doesn’t say over what time period.

In total for 2012, the company diverted 8,391 metric tons of food waste and 204,817 metric tons of recyclable material from landfill.

For Environmental Leader’s coverage of Woolworths’ 2011 report click here.