LuLu Hypermarket joins Ellen MacArthur Foundation to promote Circular Economy

LuLu Group International, the leading business conglomerate that has diversified business interests in the Middle East, North Africa, India, Malaysia and Indonesia, has joined the Ellen MacArthur Foundation as a network member to facilitate collaboration for accelerating its ongoing efforts towards the transition to a circular economy.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is a UK registered charity that develops and promotes the idea of a circular economy – a global systemic shift from the ‘take, make, waste’ extractive model to one that designs out waste and pollution, keeps products and materials in use, and regenerates natural systems, according to a statement from LuLu yesterday.

In order to accelerate the transition to a circular economy, a model that benefits the economy, society, and the environment, the Foundation works with, and inspires, business, academia, policymakers, and institutions to mobilise systems solutions at scale, globally. A circular economy offers solutions to tackle global challenges such as climate change, waste and pollution, and biodiversity loss. Underpinned by a transition to renewable energy, a circular economy designs out waste, and pollution, maximises resource efficiency, and promotes the reuse, sharing, repair, refurbishment and recycling of materials.

Commending the promising initiative of LuLu Group, Joe Murphy, the network lead at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation said: “With a diverse portfolio, there is great scope for the LuLu Group to embed circular economy practices and, as a member of the Foundation’s network, the group will have the opportunity to collaborate with some of the world’s leading organisations. In the near term, we hope to see the LuLu Group spark projects in markets where we have traditionally had a smaller presence”.

LuLu Group has always been working on the integration and implementation of sustainability principles across different spheres of its activity for a long time, aligned with the sustainable development goals of the United Nations.

As a multinational organisation with majority of its operations in those countries that have food security vulnerabilities, LuLu Group is mindful of its responsibilities. In line with this, they have taken various measures in co-operation with the local regulatory bodies to maintain food security in the region it operates and inhouse policies to reduce the food wastage.

As a responsible retailer, LuLu Group has framed its own strategy on sustainability, which is put into practice in all its retail units and supply chains worldwide. The strategy mainly involved outlining of projects for overall improvements in social, environmental and economic values (ESG) as well as contributions to improve people’s quality of life and satisfaction.

Speaking on the initiative, Dr Mohamed Althaf, director of LuLu Group International said: “Sustainability is the core of our company’s strategy. Joining Ellen MacArthur Foundation would give us an opportunity to share our learnings with others. This will also help us to formulate our strategy in reduction of food waste and to make progress in sustainable packaging”.

In recognition of its continued efforts towards sustainability, LuLu Group was bestowed with the ‘Sustainability Award’ in Qatar Region from the Gulf Organisation for Research and Development in 2019. Most recently, LuLu Group’s chairman and managing director Yusuffali M A has won the ‘Sustainable Business Leader of the Year 2020’ Award from Abu Dhabi Sustainability Group for his excellence in implementing the Sustainability best practices in retail. LuLu Group has made advancements in pursuit of circularity starting with recycling of packaging materials, reduction of food waste, and the introduction of recyclable paper bags.

A comprehensive policy towards circularity is key to ensure that consumers are provided with a more durable, repairable, recyclable and reusable choices. Aligned with this, LuLu also has focused on a cost-effective implementation of proactive measures to increase the intake and promotion of recyclable products, promote healthier food options, reduce the waste which is disposed through landfill and encourage recycling.

Besides these, they have also started sourcing of more products and services from sustainable/ circular partners who share the common philosophy, which will give the opportunity for customers to make more informed choices. Apart from these, LuLu formulated and executed an action plan to reduce the use of plastic bags by encouraging customers to go for reusable choices – a woven bag or a more environmentally friendly jute bag.

With this, LuLu Group joined the leading global organisations namely Unilever, P&G, Johnson & Johnson, amazon, IKEA, Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd, Arvind Fashioning Possibilities, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft and McDonald’s that are also network members of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. LuLu Group is ambitious that collaboration with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation could help them build retail specific concepts in food, fashion, plastics, buildings and design, and turn those concepts to practices thereby building a circular economy which benefits the economy, society, and environment worldwide.