Consumer awareness and demand for sustainability in their chosen brands are rising at an exponential rate. Today’s shoppers are increasingly seeking assurances that their purchases align with eco-friendly practices.
In Malaysia, such concerns are gripping the nation; a recent survey has found that 43% of local respondents were willing to actively support brands investing in ESG and sustainability initiatives, while 15% were willing to pay extra to do so.
Malaysian businesses are increasingly stepping up to address this phenomenon. myNEWS.com is no exception. As the largest homegrown retail convenience store chain in Malaysia, myNEWS has more than 530 outlets and serves over 6 million customers monthly.
Today, the group also operates WHSmith stores across the country — one of the most prominent retail stores in the UK. It’s certainly significant from the group’s beginnings as a singular newspaper stand in 1996.
As a sustainability-focused company, the group has been making noteworthy strides in reducing its environmental impact.
“At Mynews, we heed the urgent call to safeguard the environment from potential catastrophes,” said executive chairman Dang Tai Luk in the company’s 2023 annual report. “We take immense pride in proactively addressing these concerns, meticulously considering them in our materiality assessments involving our stakeholders.”
According to the report, the group has been focused on a number of initiatives in the 2023 financial year:
- Assessing its carbon footprint,
- Cutting down the use of degradable and biodegradable plastics,
- Optimizing resource consumption and transitioning towards adopting solar renewable energy,
- And food waste composting.
myNEWS: Sustainability as a priority
In an effort to comprehensively assess and manage its carbon footprint, myNEWS has analyzed emissions at its headquarters. This analysis marks the initial phase of a broader environmental assessment strategy, dividing the approach into four key segments of business operations.
Scope 1 emissions, which involve direct emissions from owned or controlled sources, were recorded at 1,053,147 KG. Scope 2 emissions, associated with indirect emissions from the consumption of purchased electricity, heat, or steam, amounted to 2,155,937 KG. Meanwhile, Scope 3 emissions, which include all other indirect emissions from activities like business travel and the supply chain, totaled 2,188,466 KG.
While the headquarters’ emissions data is now complete, the assessment of the remaining segments — FPC, DC, and CVS — is ongoing. The process involves extensive data collection and verification, necessitating collaboration with both internal and external stakeholders to ensure accuracy and reliability.
Solar energy is another area myNEWS is currently exploring, incorporating solar panels at both its HQ and FPC as part of its sustainability commitments. In fiscal year 2023, these solar panels generated a substantial 1,325,602 kWh of clean energy. This marks a 69% increase in solar energy production compared to the previous fiscal year.
Additionally, the use of solar energy has resulted in a 10% cost savings in energy expenditures for the year, underscoring the economic benefits alongside environmental impact.
Recycling, food waste and more
On the side of recycling, myNEWS has launched an initiative focusing on the reuse of wooden pallets to enhance sustainability and reduce waste. This program is part of broader ESG efforts to repurpose versatile, eco-friendly wooden pallets, crucial in logistics, thereby avoiding landfill disposal. The group is set to disclose detailed tracking in the coming financial year.
Recycling carton boxes is another area the group has focused on. To date, myNEWS has seen more than 6,000 Malaysian ringgit and a 23% increase in recycling rates.
Embracing the use of biodegradable plastics in the packaging of its goods is another area of progress, seeing a 81.97% use of traditional plastics compared to 90.13% in 2022. This has resulted in an increase in the group’s ESG standing against local competitors.
In the area of waste management, myNEWS has been working to ensure the responsible disposal of used cooking oil. The report delves into the recycling of 58,029 KG of used cooking oil and its transformation into other materials such as biofuels and biodiesel, reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
On the topic of animal welfare, while a number of other retailers in the country including Beacon Mart, MYDIN and AEON have set timelines for sourcing only cage-free eggs in their supply chain — with AEON further establishing animal welfare standard improvements for poultry, seafood, pork and beef — myNEWS has not yet established a policy on cage-free eggs or other animal welfare topics.
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