Kroger 2014 Annual Report Download - page 61

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significant฀ amounts฀ of฀ embedded฀ value,฀ lie฀ buried฀ in฀ landfills.฀ Unrecyclable฀ packaging฀ is฀ more฀ likely฀
to฀ be฀ littered฀ and฀ swept฀ into฀ waterways.฀ A฀ recent฀ assessment฀ of฀ marine฀ debris฀ by฀ a฀ panel฀ of฀ the฀ Global฀
Environment฀Facility฀concluded฀that฀one฀cause฀of฀debris฀entering฀oceans฀is฀“design฀and฀marketing฀of฀products฀
internationally฀without฀appropriate฀regard฀to฀their฀environmental฀fate฀or฀ability฀to฀be฀recycled…”
In฀the฀marine฀environment,฀plastics฀break฀down฀into฀indigestible฀particles฀that฀marine฀life฀mistake฀for฀food.฀
Studies฀by฀the฀EPA฀suggest฀a฀synergistic฀effect฀between฀plastic฀debris฀and฀persistent,฀bioaccumulative,฀toxic฀
chemicals.฀Plastics฀absorb฀toxics฀such฀as฀polychlorinated฀biphenyls฀and฀dioxins฀from฀water฀or฀sediment฀and฀
transfer฀them฀to฀the฀marine฀food฀web฀and฀potentially฀to฀human฀diets.฀One฀study฀of฀fish฀from฀the฀North฀Pacific฀
found one or more plastic chemicals in all fish tested, independent of location and species.
California฀spends฀nearly฀$500฀million฀annually฀preventing฀trash,฀much฀of฀it฀packaging,฀from฀polluting฀beaches,฀
rivers฀and฀oceanfront.฀Making฀all฀packaging฀recyclable,฀if฀possible,฀is฀the฀first฀step฀needed฀to฀reduce฀the฀threat฀
posed฀by฀ocean฀debris.
Companies฀who฀aspire฀to฀corporate฀sustainability฀yet฀use฀these฀risky฀materials฀need฀to฀explain฀why฀they฀use฀
unrecyclable฀packaging.฀Other฀companies฀who฀manufacture฀and฀sell฀food฀and฀household฀goods฀are฀moving฀
towards฀ recyclability.฀ Procter฀ &฀ Gamble฀ and฀ Colgate-Palmolive฀ agreed฀ to฀ make฀ most฀ of฀ their฀ packaging฀
recyclable฀by฀2020.฀Keurig฀Green฀Mountain฀will฀K-cup฀coffee฀pods฀recyclable;฀and฀McDonald’s฀and฀Dunkin฀
Donuts฀shifted฀away฀from฀foam฀plastic฀cups,฀which฀cannot฀be฀readily฀recycled.
RESOLVED:฀Shareowners฀of฀Kroger฀request฀ that฀the฀board฀of฀directors฀issue฀a฀report,฀at฀reasonable฀cost,฀
omitting฀ confidential฀ information,฀ assessing฀ the฀ environmental฀ impacts฀ of฀ continuing฀ to฀ use฀ unrecyclable฀
brand฀packaging.
Supporting Statement:฀Proponents฀believe฀that฀the฀report฀should฀include฀an฀assessment฀of฀the฀reputational,฀
financial฀and฀operational฀risks฀associated฀with฀continuing฀to฀use฀unrecyclable฀brand฀packaging฀and,฀if฀possible,฀
goals฀and฀a฀timeline฀to฀phase฀out฀unrecyclable฀packaging.”
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 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฀ proponents’฀concerns฀regarding฀plastic฀recyclability฀and฀ recognizes฀the฀ important฀
role we play as a good steward of the environment.
We฀ continue฀ to฀ improve฀ the฀ recyclability฀ of฀ our฀ corporate฀ branded฀ products.฀ We฀ follow฀ a฀ balanced,฀
multi-pronged฀approach฀to฀optimize฀packaging฀designs฀that฀consider฀attributes฀including฀but฀not฀limited฀to฀
food฀safety,฀shelf฀life,฀availability,฀quality,฀material฀type,฀function,฀recyclability฀and฀cost.฀
Kroger฀is฀increasingly฀labeling฀corporate฀branded฀products฀that฀can฀be฀recycled,฀per฀the฀Federal฀Trade฀
Commission’s฀ Green Guides,฀ prompting฀ our฀ customers฀ to฀ “PLEASE฀ RECYCLE.”฀ Examples฀ include฀ banner฀
brand฀water฀bottles,฀which฀are฀made฀from฀polyethylene฀terephthalate฀(PETE),฀one฀of฀the฀most฀widely฀recycled฀
plastics฀available.฀Our฀banner฀branded฀bread฀bags฀are฀made฀from฀low-density฀polyethylene฀(LDPE),฀which฀can฀
be฀recycled฀at฀most฀of฀our฀stores,฀as฀part฀of฀the฀plastic฀bag฀recycling฀program.฀
Kroger฀ also฀ works฀ with฀ various฀ industry฀ experts฀ and฀ forums฀ to฀ advocate฀ for฀ expanded฀ recycling฀
infrastructure฀ to฀ support฀ multiple฀ forms฀ of฀ plastic฀ packaging฀ and฀ to฀ support฀ diversion฀ from฀ landfills.฀ For฀
example,฀polypropylene฀(PP)฀has฀many฀properties฀and฀desirable฀traits฀for฀our฀banner฀brand฀ice฀cream฀such฀as฀
easy฀opening฀and฀reclosing฀and฀longer฀shelf฀life.฀It฀allows฀us฀to฀use฀less฀material฀by฀weight,฀due฀to฀its฀strength,฀
than฀other฀polymers.฀While฀not฀yet฀widespread,฀it฀is฀increasingly฀being฀accepted฀at฀curbside฀programs.
For฀ each฀ of฀ the฀ past฀ several฀ years฀ we฀ have฀ published฀ online฀ our฀ annual฀ Sustainability Report that
highlights฀ our฀ sustainability฀ initiatives฀ and฀ waste฀ reduction฀ efforts฀ in฀ greater฀ detail.฀ We฀ will฀ continue฀ to฀
support฀efforts฀to฀reduce฀waste,฀find฀optimized฀solutions฀and฀advocate฀for฀expanded฀recycling฀infrastructure.฀
We฀believe฀these฀efforts฀are฀significant฀and฀meaningful.
This฀proposal฀requests฀that฀Kroger฀take฀additional฀steps฀to฀report฀on฀an฀assessment฀of฀the฀environmental฀
impact฀ of฀ unrecyclable฀ packaging.฀ We฀ believe฀ that฀ the฀ requested฀ report฀ would฀ serve฀ little฀ benefit฀ to฀ our฀
shareholders,฀and฀preparation฀of฀a฀report฀would฀divert฀resources฀that฀otherwise฀could฀be฀more฀appropriately฀
used฀in฀the฀best฀interests฀of฀our฀shareholders.฀