Loblaw's commitment to respect the environment earns spot on Canada's
Greenest Employers list

Canada's largest grocery retailer recognized for environmental initiatives

BRAMPTON, ON, April 22 /CNW/ - Loblaw Companies Limited (Loblaw), one of Canada's largest private sector employers, has been named one of Canada's Greenest Employers for 2010 in recognition of the Company's leading earth-friendly initiatives and efforts to incorporate environmental values into its corporate culture.

"We are very proud to be recognized as one of Canada's Greenest Employers," said Judy McCrie, executive vice president, human resources, Loblaw Companies Limited. "This award is a testament to the hard work of our colleagues, franchise and franchise employees and their commitment to making environmental initiatives important."

Utilizing its network of colleague communication tools and activities, Loblaw has created awareness and support for environmental initiatives by colleagues, franchises and franchise employees. Activities such as the recent WWF-Canada Sweater Day, where Loblaw corporate and participating franchise stores turned down store thermostats by three degrees Celsius, in an effort to show colleagues, customers and franchise employees how small changes can make a difference on the environment, was embraced at store level and regional offices.

"At Loblaw, respecting the environment is one of the five corporate social responsibility pillars that help guide the way we do business. We deliver on this commitment by driving innovation in product development, waste reduction, energy efficiency and more - all with the goal of reducing the environmental impact of our operations," said Bob Chant, vice president, corporate affairs, Loblaw Companies Limited. "We are very proud to be recognized for the progress we've made to date and we hope that the recognition inspires everyone at Loblaw to continue to make a difference to our environment."

Among the initiatives that helped Loblaw earn its place on Canada's Greenest Employers list include:

    
    -  Kicking the plastic bag habit: Loblaw and participating franchises
       successfully diverted more than 1.3 billion plastic shopping bags
       from landfill since 2007. Partial proceeds from the five cent charge
       on plastic shopping bags support WWF-Canada programs to engage
       Canadians to make changes to positively affect the environment.

    -  Sustainable Seafood Commitment: In 2009, Loblaw made a commitment to
       source all seafood sold in its retail locations from sustainable
       sources by the end of 2013. The commitment covers all canned, frozen,
       fresh, wild and farmed seafood products in all categories. Loblaw is
       working with partners including WWF-Canada, the Marine Stewardship
       Council (MSC) as well as marine scientists, conservation experts and
       vendors to achieve this goal.

    -  Carbon footprint reduction: Loblaw has launched several programs
       aimed at reducing lighting and energy use in-store. In 2009, the
       Company installed a wind turbine at the Atlantic Superstore in
       Porters Lake, Nova Scotia to help reduce carbon emissions by adding
       green energy production capability. Loblaw also uses alternative
       refrigeration system design to reduce energy consumption and
       refrigerant use in-store. In 2010 Loblaw will install solar panels at
       four store rooftops in Ontario, with the potential to rollout the
       program to more than 100 stores across the province. Loblaw has also
       achieved efficiencies in the management of its transport fleet,
       having achieved a four per cent improvement in fuel efficiency per
       kilometre driven in the past two years.

    -  On site waste reduction and diversion: Loblaw and its franchises are
       working to divert 70 percent of waste generated from stores and
       distribution centres from landfill. As part of this initiative,
       stores in various regions across the country, are separating organic
       waste and diverting this to compost and biogas facilities. Grease
       from in-store cooking is also being collected and converted to
       biodiesel for use by our transport fleet.

    -  Driving product innovation: For 20 years, Loblaw has been developing
       and expanding the PC(R) G.R.E.E.N line of products to offer
       high-performance, eco-friendly alternatives to Canadians at great
       prices. All Loblaw PC(R) G.R.E.E.N products are approved by Colin
       Isaacs - an independent and leading Canadian environmental scientist.
       Today, PC(R) G.R.E.E.N offers more than 40 products ranging from lawn
       and garden to household cleaning, to help customers take steps
       towards reducing their environmental footprints.
    

"Through our partnership with Loblaw on environmental initiatives, we have witnessed the depth of the Company's commitment to conservation and are particularly impressed with its world-leading commitment to source 100 per cent sustainable seafood," said Gerald Butts, president and CEO, WWF-Canada. "We congratulate Loblaw on being named one of Canada's Greenest Employers and look forward to continuing our work with the Company."

Launched in 2007, the Canada's Greenest Employers competition is organized by the editors of the Canada's Top 100 Employers project. This special designation recognizes the employers that lead the nation in creating a corporate culture of environmental awareness, have developed exceptional earth-friendly initiatives and attracting people to their organizations because of their environmental leadership.

Employers are evaluated based on the following criteria: (1) the unique environmental initiatives and programs they have developed; (2) the extent to which they have been successful in reducing the organization's own environmental footprint; (3) the degree to which their employees are involved in these programs and whether they contribute any unique skills; and (4) the extent to which these initiatives have become linked to the employer's public identity and whether they attract new people to the organization.

About Loblaw Companies Limited

Loblaw Companies Limited, a subsidiary of George Weston Limited, is Canada's largest food distributor and a leading provider of drugstore, general merchandise and financial products and services. Loblaw is one of the largest private sector employers in Canada. With more than 1,000 corporate and franchised stores from coast to coast, Loblaw and its franchisees employ over 138,000 full-time and part-time employees. Through its portfolio of store formats, Loblaw is committed to providing Canadians with a wide, growing and successful range of products and services to meet the everyday household demands of Canadian customers. Loblaw is known for the quality, innovation and value of its food offering. It offers Canada's strongest control (private) label program, including the unique President's Choice(R), no name(R) and Joe Fresh Style(R) brands. In addition, the Company makes available to customers President's Choice Financial(R) services and offers the PC(R) points loyalty program.

For further information: Public Relations Department, Loblaw Companies Limited, [email protected] or [phone]