The Lawson Group generates food waste as well as other waste, including plastic bottles and cardboard. We also generate industrial waste such as construction materials during the construction and renovation of our stores. In order to reduce our environmental impact and prevent pollution, we at the Lawson Group are working to reduce and properly dispose of waste in accordance with our Environmental Policy.
Lawson continuously collects information on waste from stores for use as basic data in the promotion of waste reduction and recycling.
In fiscal 2022, the average daily waste per store amounted to 40.7 kg, among which unsold food was 7.4 kg.
Source: Ministry of the Environment’s Official Announcement: “Estimated Figures of the Generation of Food Loss and Waste (FY 2021)”
Lawson is addressing the reduction of food loss and food waste with set priorities. First of all, only the necessary amount of food is produced at the factories, while the stores purchase the appropriate quantity and promote complete sell-through, including through the use of discounts. If food loss is still likely to occur, we promote “reuse” by donating the food to those who need assistance. “Reduce” and “reuse” are extremely important initiatives to ensure that food is consumed and used up in its original edible form. We are promoting efforts to reduce the amount of food that would otherwise be simply thrown away by advancing “recycling” where the food is processed into fuel, feed, and other products in cases where it is difficult to use the food as it is even after implementing these two initiatives.
Source: Consumer Affairs Agency
*The sell-by time(date) is a time set by Lawson during which products can be sold and consumed with peace of mind by customers.
Minimizing Unsold Products and Waste
■Initiatives at Production Factories
In order to cut waste at the manufacturing stage, we have introduced the Production Process Management System, which entails carefully measuring ingredients used, product volume, and servings down to the gram.
■Stores: Prevent surplus food generation using semi-automatic ordering systems
Stores use a semi-automated ordering system for ordering products such as boxed meals, rice balls, and bakery items. This system analyzes sales trends, customer demographics, weather patterns, and various other information for each store and automatically recommends the optimal product assortment for the store and the quantity to order for each item. The system further improves the accuracy of the ordering process by allowing the person placing the order to consider the product lineup and the number of items to be ordered, taking into account local events and other factors. By optimizing the ordering process in this manner, we ensure that customers always have the products they want, helping us to reduce waste. In addition, at Machikado Chubo in-store kitchens, we control production in accordance with customer trends.
In addition, as part of our efforts to reduce the number of unsold products in our stores, we encourage discount sales by using discount keys on POS cash registers and discount stickers registered as consumables. We are offering discounts on items such as ready-made meal products with short consumption periods, fast food prepared on site, and products from Machikado Chubo in-store kitchens.
▲ Curbing waste by carefully measuring raw materials at a rice dish factory
■Initiatives at Stores: Implementation of “Temae-Dori”
Lawson, in cooperation with the Consumer Affairs Agency, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Ministry of the Environment, and the Japan Franchise Association, is implementing the “Temae-Dori” (meaning “pick up at the front”) program, which encourages customers who plan to eat the products immediately after purchase to pick up the products displayed at the front of the shelf first.
■Product-Related Initiatives
In November 2022, Lawson began the sale of salads with the top lid of the container switched from a plastic cover type to a peel-off type in some stores, and in May 2023, this change was extended to all stores nationwide (except for Okinawa Prefecture). By filling the container with a mixture of nitrogen and carbon dioxide gases and sealing it with a peel-off-type top lid, the growth of bacteria in the package is suppressed, enabling the product to be sold fresh for approximately one day longer than previously possible.
■Initiatives at Distribution Centers
In August 2019, Lawson began an initiative to regularly donate original snacks, processed foods*, daily necessities, and other items that missed the delivery deadlines to stores to the The Japan Food Bank Promotion Group. The purpose of this initiative is to reduce food loss and to support families and facilities in need of food aid and daily necessities. Donated items are delivered to food bank organizations throughout Japan and then provided to families in need of food aid, children's cafeterias, orphanages, welfare facilities for the disabled, and other facilities.
* We allow a certain amount of time for the best-before date.
Established in 2015, the Japan Food Bank Promotion Group aims to reduce food loss through the promotion of food bank activities and to create a society where the problem of child poverty is solved.
●Diagram of Surplus Food Donations
We have also expanded our efforts to include the donation of Christmas cakes during the Christmas season in December, and Osechi (New Year’s dishes) during the year-end and New Year’s holidays. We are also expanding the number of recipients of our donations, regularly donating food and daily necessities to food delivery programs for children and families in Japan, including the Kodomo Takushoku Ouendan, Shiawase Shokutaku Jigyo in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo, Kyoto Food Center, WeSupport Family.
Food delivery program for children
■Initiatives at Stores: Donation of Products That Have Passed Their Sell-by Time
To reduce food loss, Lawson donates products that have passed their sell-by time in a frozen state in some stores. Products that have passed their sell-by time refer to products that can be consumed even though they have passed the time limit set by Lawson for sale to customers and have been removed from the store shelves. Instead of simply discarding them, we are conducting a demonstrative trial in which we freeze them in a liquid flash freezer that can preserve the freshness of food and donate them to people in need of food assistance. In this demonstrative trial, we donate food to children’s cafeterias and other facilities in Shinagawa Ward through the Shinagawa Children’s Cafeteria Network Secretariat. Through such demonstrative trials, we will continue to verify local needs and operational aspects, and will consider the expansion of these initiatives to other stores and more items.
■Initiatives at Stores
●Lawson Group Number of Stores Conducting Food Recycling
Area where unsold food products recycling area
■Food recycling process in Fukuoka City