Kroger 2013 Annual Report Download - page 61

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Supporting฀Statement:฀Options฀reviewed฀in฀the฀report฀should฀include฀analyses฀of฀company฀-based฀actions฀that฀
will฀increase฀recyclability฀of฀packaging฀materials,฀and฀participation฀in฀policy฀and฀technical฀development฀of฀
EPR฀or฀other฀producer฀responsibility฀strategies฀in฀collaboration฀with฀sector฀peers,฀policymakers฀and฀suppliers฀
with฀a฀goal฀of฀greatly฀increased฀U.S.฀recycling฀rates฀and฀reduced฀energy฀use฀and฀pollution.”
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 VO T E A G A I N S T T H 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฀ 35฀ million฀
pounds฀of฀plastic฀waste,฀from฀bags฀and฀plastic฀film,฀in฀2013.฀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฀49฀million฀pounds฀of฀safe,฀wholesome฀food฀to฀Feeding฀America฀
food฀banks฀to฀fight฀hunger฀in฀local฀communities.฀That฀which฀cannot฀be฀donated฀is฀composted฀or฀converted฀
to฀energy฀through฀an฀innovative฀waste฀to฀energy฀system.฀By฀scaling฀up฀these฀innovative฀solutions,฀Kroger฀is฀
reducing฀the฀amount฀of฀waste฀being฀sent฀to฀landfills.฀Kroger฀also฀works฀to฀reduce฀waste฀in฀the฀first฀place฀by฀
designing฀optimized฀packaging,฀and฀is฀participating฀in฀national฀efforts฀to฀expand฀and฀scale฀infrastructure.฀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฀covers฀the฀same฀subject฀matter฀as฀one฀submitted฀to฀a฀vote฀at฀the฀last฀two฀years’฀annual฀
meetings฀and฀was฀soundly฀defeated฀by฀shareholders.
SHAREHOLDER฀PROPOSALS฀–฀2015฀ANNUAL฀MEETING.฀Shareholder฀proposals฀intended฀for฀inclusion฀
in฀our฀proxy฀material฀relating฀to฀Kroger’s฀annual฀meeting฀in฀June฀2015฀should฀be฀addressed฀to฀the฀Secretary฀
of฀ Kroger฀ and฀ must฀ be฀ received฀ at฀ our฀ executive฀ offices฀ not฀ later฀ than฀ January฀ 14,฀ 2015.฀ These฀ proposals฀
must฀ comply฀ with฀ Rule฀ 14a-8฀ and฀ the฀ SEC’s฀ proxy฀ rules.฀ The฀ Company’s฀ Regulations฀ contain฀ an฀ advance฀
notice฀ of฀ shareholder฀ business฀ and฀ nominations฀ requirement,฀ which฀ generally฀ prescribes฀ the฀ procedures฀
that a shareholder of the Company must follow if the shareholder intends, at an annual meeting, to nominate
a฀person฀for฀election฀to฀the฀Company’s฀Board฀of฀Directors฀or฀to฀propose฀other฀business฀to฀be฀considered฀by฀
shareholders. These procedures include, among other things, that the shareholder give timely notice to the
Secretary฀of฀the฀Company฀of฀the฀nomination฀or฀other฀proposed฀business,฀that฀the฀notice฀contain฀specified฀
information,฀and฀that฀the฀shareholder฀comply฀with฀certain฀other฀requirements.฀Generally,฀in฀the฀case฀of฀an฀