Kroger 2012 Annual Report Download - page 53

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 53 of the 2012 Kroger annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 136

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • 127
  • 128
  • 129
  • 130
  • 131
  • 132
  • 133
  • 134
  • 135
  • 136

51
Producers฀ control฀ design฀ and฀ marketing฀ decisions,฀ and฀ are฀ so฀ best฀ positioned฀ to฀ choose฀ the฀ most฀
recyclable฀packaging฀materials฀and฀reduce฀overall฀environmental฀impact฀of฀product฀packaging.฀EPR฀mandates฀
can฀ create฀ new฀ economic฀ markets฀ for฀ used฀ packaging.฀ Increased฀ recycling฀ of฀ packaging฀ can฀ yield฀ strong฀
environmental benefits, lead to more efficient use of materials, reduced extraction of natural resources, fewer
GHG฀and฀toxic฀emissions,฀and฀less฀post-consumer฀packaging฀flowing฀into฀oceans฀where฀it฀imperils฀marine฀
life.
BE IT RESOLVED THAT Shareowners of The Kroger Co. request that the board of directors issue a report
at reasonable cost, omitting confidential information, assessing the feasibility of adopting a policy of Extended
Producer฀Responsibility฀for฀house฀brand฀post-consumer฀product฀packaging฀as฀a฀means฀of฀increasing฀rates฀of฀
packaging฀recycling,฀and฀reducing฀carbon฀emissions฀and฀air฀and฀water฀pollution฀resulting฀from฀the฀company’s฀
business practices.
Supporting฀Statement:฀Proponents฀believe฀policy฀options฀reviewed฀in฀the฀report฀should฀include฀taking฀
responsibility฀for฀house฀brand฀post-consumer฀package฀recycling,฀endorsing฀EPR฀mandates฀as฀appropriate฀and฀
participating in development of producer financed and managed EPR systems.
TH E B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S R E C O M M E N D S A V O T E A G A I N S T TH I S P R O P O S A L F O R T H E
FO L L O W I N G R E A S O N S :
Kroger shares the proponent’s concerns regarding waste reduction and recognizes the important role it
plays as a good steward of the environment. We have numerous sustainability initiatives in place to preserve
our natural resources and to conserve energy. For instance, the company recycled more than 32 million
pounds of plastic waste, from bags and plastic film, in 2012. The company also recycles more than a billion
pounds฀ of฀ cardboard฀ each฀ year.฀ Most฀ importantly,฀ we’ve฀ pioneered฀ the฀ Perishable฀ Donations฀ Partnership,฀
which enables the donation of more than 48 million pounds of safe, wholesome food to Feeding America
food฀banks฀to฀fight฀hunger฀in฀local฀communities.฀By฀implementing฀innovative฀methods฀of฀donating฀these฀food฀
items, Kroger is reducing the amount of waste being sent to landfills. For each of the past several years we
have published on-line The Kroger Co. Public Responsibilities Report and our annual Sustainability Report
that highlight the company’s sustainability initiatives and waste reduction efforts in greater detail.
This฀proposal฀requests฀that฀Kroger฀take฀additional฀steps฀to฀report฀on฀the฀feasibility฀of฀adopting฀a฀policy฀of฀
“Extended Producer Responsibility,” or EPR. The resolution provides no guidance regarding proponent’s view
of the requirements of a company-adopted EPR policy.
Kroger supports efforts to reduce waste in the supply chain, as described above and in our various
sustainability reports. It would be inappropriate, however, to support a policy that is not clearly defined. We
believe our support for waste reduction efforts in our supply chain are significant and meaningful.
Kroger is familiar with various EPR proposals in states and laws in other countries that require retailers
and manufacturers to pay substantial taxes and fees related to waste disposal. The proposals vary in detail and
implementation, and while we do assess new laws and regulations for their feasibility, cost and requirements,
to do so for each individual EPR proposal at the federal, state, and international level would require significant
resources that could be allocated more wisely in the best interests of shareholders.
Kroger฀often฀is฀asked฀to฀take฀a฀position฀on฀legislation฀or฀regulatory฀proposals.฀While฀occasionally฀we฀
will communicate to federal, state and local officials our positions on specific policy issues, we believe it is
premature to offer an official position statement on EPR legislative and regulatory proposals without first
carefully examining the specifics of each individual law or regulation and how it would affect our customers
and our business.
This proposal is virtually identical to one submitted to a vote at last year’s annual meeting and was
soundly defeated by shareholders.