Green Power FAQ's
Recycling Transportation Bio-Diesel

Recycling

Safeway facilities participate in a number of recycling programs. These
include recycling of:

Each of these programs - carried out at stores and distribution centers - diverts solid waste away from landfills and into material re-use or recycling. This reduces the cost of waste hauling and disposal. It also helps cities and counties reach mandated reductions in solid waste disposal to landfills. In California, for instance, each of Safeway's stores diverts over 85% of its total solid waste from landfill disposal - well above the state-mandated goal of 50%.

In recognition of our recycling and source reduction efforts at our stores and distribution centers in California, Safeway once again received WRAP (Waste Reduction Award Program) Awards in 2006 from the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB). In addition, the CIWMB awarded Safeway the prestigious WRAP of the Year award in 2005, honoring our commitment to environmental conservation.

The programs described below diverted a total of 501,625 tons of recyclable materials in 2006. The totals for each program are as follows:

Corrugated Cardboard Recycling: 316,041 tons
Nearly all cardboard is collected and baled for sale to cardboard brokers for recycling into other fiber products.

Plastics Recycling: 8,920 tons
Plastics are collected and baled for sale to brokers for recycling into mixed plastic products such as parking lot bumpers and plastic lumber products. This total does not include beverage bottles returned for deposit under state recycling programs.

Composting: 87,949 tons
Participating stores collect compostable materials (e.g., produce trimmings, unsalable produce and bakery products, waxed boxes, etc.) that we send to a composting site, where they are turned into soil amendment products.

Food Wastes: 70,320 tons
This includes food production wastes at our supply plants, such as bread, dairy products and cooking oil, and fat and bone from our store meat departments. These materials are recycled into a number of products such as animal feed, supplements and bio-diesel fuel.

Miscellaneous Recycled Materials: 18,395 tons
Miscellaneous materials include aluminum and other metals, paper, wood, batteries, oil and refrigerant. This also includes paper bag re-use by customers.

Total Recycled: 501,625 Tons
What does 501,625 tons of recycled materials look like? If it were as dense as soil, it would be 385,000 cubic yards - enough soil to cover an area the size of a football field piled over 190 feet high.

Transportation

In 2006 Safeway joined the SmartWay Transport Partnership, a voluntary public-private alliance launched by the EPA and the freight industry to increase fuel efficiency while significantly reducing greenhouse gases (GHG) and other air pollutants. SmartWay Transport Partners commit to adopt fuel-saving air-pollution-control strategies that reduce fuel costs and significantly decrease GHG emissions.

In 2006, using SmartWay's Freight Logistics Environmental and Energy Tracking (FLEET) performance model, Safeway established baseline fuel efficiency for its 900-plus truck fleet. We also committed to implement an action plan to improve performance over the next three years. Results from the FLEET performance model show that, each year, our current initiatives and technologies are saving over 6.5 million gallons of diesel fuel and preventing 73,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. At last year's national average diesel cost of $2.705 per gallon, our fleet efficiency efforts also saved more than $17.8 million in 2006.

These fuel savings result from a wide range of efficiency initiatives and technologies that include:

In 2006 we also completed a fleet performance action plan using SmartWay's FLEET model. The action plan sets targets for continued improvement in fuel efficiency and emissions reduction.

Bio-Diesel

powered bySafeway’s distribution fleets in California and Arizona have converted to biodiesel. Safeway operates 550 trucks in California and 79 in Arizona. Safeway is using B20 Biodiesel, a blend of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum diesel. The biodiesel is grown and manufactured domestically from 100% virgin soybean oil. By using B20 in California and Arizona, 69% of our diesel purchase is now B20.

B20 Biodiesel reduces sulfur, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon and particulate emissions. Converting the CA and AZ fleets to B20 reduces Safeway's CO2 gas output by 23,021 metric tonsper year. This is equivalent to one of the following: