In September 2023 we were among the first companies in Russia to automate collection and analysis of indicators related to sustainable development (ESG) — including environment, care for local communities and our employees — throughout all our retail chains.
The new consolidated dashboard that automatically loads and aggregates data from several mobile apps and information systems of Pyaterochka, Perekrestok and Chizhik chains became the face of our new system.
What metrics do we track?
Each week our system traces and updates more than 160 unique indicators, including:
- Consumption of electricity, refrigerants and heat
- Volume of materials sent for recycling
- Waste generation
- Labor protection and industrial safety indicators
- Charity shipments and much more
During the first stage, we connected just our retail chains to the ESG system, but we are already working to expand this project to all business units throughout the company.
Which problems does this system tackle?
The new ESG dashboard already helps us with two large tasks:
- In the first instance, it allows us to more accurately and clearly monitor the historical data and trends, compare certain periods, quickly analyze data and respond in case of any deviations.
- In the second instance, it saves time for our employees on preparing reports, while also reducing the human factor: in case of a typo, significant deviations or missing data, the system immediately informs the responsible employees.
What’s under the hood?
On the technical side, the automation process involves two IT-systems.
The first one is WRS, a unified corporate platform for collecting data and automating business processes. It was this home-built system that made it possible to arrange regular collection of certain data through a personal account.
One of the distinctive features of our platform is its ability to easily digitize any processes within the company as well as any relationship with our contractors. Besides that, it offers flexible compliance control helping solve various problems.
Working in conjunction with WRS is EDW, the X5 Group’s corporate analytical warehouse, where we’ve created data marts to build our consolidated dashboard.
What do we do in ESG and what are we striving for?
Our 2030 Sustainability Strategy sets out several targets to reduce our environmental impact. For example, we plan to reduce direct greenhouse gas emissions and indirect energy emissions, as well as the waste generation rate, by 30%. At the same time, we intend to increase the share of renewable energy in our operations by one third.
For sure, such large goals can be divided into smaller subgoals. For example, by the end of 2023, we set the goal to increase the share of recycled solid waste generated in our retail chains to 95%, and also raise the volume of food products that have lost their marketable appearance before expiration date to be delivered for recycling to 20%.
By the way, speaking of products, we also strive to be proactive and not to produce waste in general. You’ve probably noticed discounts on products near the end of their shelf-life, which naturally increases consumers’ demand.
If for some reason we can’t sell such products, we give them away to farmers at a symbolic price, to be used as food for animals. Part of fruits and vegetables is sent to the Plodorodie company, which processes organic waste into fertilizers (in addition to handling food waste, X5 delivers more than 93% of plastic, cardboard and film from its stores and distribution centers for recycling).
At the same time, the X5 Group has been developing food sharing activities for the second year now, which aims to solve social problems. Products with expiring dates that are still suitable for consumption are donated to partner charities, who, in turn, donate them to people in need.
We are also doing a lot in the field of green energy, for example, we’ve started a pilot project to install charging stations for electric vehicles near Pyaterochka stores, with the first such stations already available in Saint Petersburg.
Besides that, we’ve launched another pilot project in four Pyaterochka stores in the Krasnodar Territory, where we install solar panels. In addition, we’ve put ‘solars’ on the windows of one of our stores in Samara — these are special solar panels that create optimal lighting thanks to adjustable tilt. They also generate electricity and protect the retail space from overheating or overcooling.
Simultaneously, we are deploying the Smart Shield and Smart Store systems, which also help reduce energy consumption. The first system enables the full automation of the store ventilation processes, creating thermal curtains, providing air conditioning and lighting. We connected half of our Perekrestok stores to it. The second one automates the control of refrigerators and refrigerated display cases, as well as heating and air-conditioning units, lighting and heating. Last year alone, we’ve deployed this system in 793 Pyaterochka stores.
To reduce emissions from our more than 4,000 trucks that deliver food products in 72 regions, we are using trucks with lighter bodies and we are converting part of our fleet to hybrid engines that run on gas and diesel fuel. At the same time, we reduce mileage through careful planning and optimization of routes. We deliver hazardous waste from transport maintenance either for disposal or recycling.
Do we get any results?
For sure! For instance, here are our achievements by the end of 2022:
- We reduced our greenhouse gas emissions per square meter by 3% compared to 2021 and by 13.7% compared to 2019, when emissions reduction goals were first set.
- We decreased electricity consumption from the external network in Pyaterochka by 18–20% thanks to the recently installed solar panels.
- We reduced energy consumption by 10% with our Smart Shield system and by 4.9% with the Smart Store system.
- We delivered 663 thousand tons of plastic, cardboard and plastic film, as well as 710 tons of other resources, including oils and batteries, and handed over 100 tons of hazardous waste for recycling.
- We sent 96 thousand tons of vegetables, fruits and groceries to farmers, to be used as animal feed.
- Since October 2021, several hundred tons of fruits and vegetables have been donated to Plodorodie company.
- To date, we have saved more than 35 tons of food and helped 60+ thousand people thanks to our food sharing activities.
At the same time, 20% of our vehicle fleet has already been converted to hybrid engines. We are all set to continue our efforts in this direction, however, the infrastructure of gas filling stations in the regions is not yet so much developed, so this is still the limiting factor for our fleet.
This is just a small part of our ESG initiatives that we are now digitizing and analyzing more deeply through our new dashboard. This means we can now adjust our activities more accurately and quickly to achieve our sustainability goals more efficiently.
