Shoprite's Centurion distribution center achieves zero waste certification

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Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA), marking a significant milestone for sustainable retail logistics in South Africa.

The certification confirms that more than 90% of all waste generated across the entire distribution campus is diverted from landfill.

Issued by the GBCSA, the authority on sustainable building practices, the recognition reflects measurable performance in environmental responsibility across both infrastructure and operations.

The facility follows a structured waste‑management hierarchy that prioritises reducing waste and recovering unusable materials and consumables:

• Reduce: Minimise overall waste volumes through optimising ordering systems.

• Reuse: Packaging materials are carefully managed for internal reuse or channelled into reuse markets. Surplus food is redistributed through the gGroup’s food donation programme, while other goods are resold and equipment is repaired wherever possible before disposal is considered.

• Recycle: Over 31,931 tonnes of materials including cardboard, plastics, paper, pallets, glass and metal were sorted and directed to verified recycling partners in the 2025 financial year.

• Recover: Food unsuitable for human consumption is repurposed into animal feed, with almost 6,469 tonnes of waste diverted in FY2025. Remaining organic waste is responsibly processed through composting, returning nutrients to the soil, with more than 1,652 tonnes composted during the same period.

• Landfill: Less than 10% of residual waste is sent to landfill as a last resort.

Operational efficiency further supports these efforts through reverse logistics.

Delivery trucks returning from stores transport recyclable materials back to the distribution centre, reducing empty loads and improving waste consolidation. This is also reinforced by a waste separation-at-source drive which is implemented across the retailer’s divisions nationwide, ensuring materials are pre-sorted wherever possible.

Achieving the certification required rigorous third-party verification, including documentation audits, evidence and detailed record reviews across multiple waste streams and service providers.

“This achievement is more than a certification – it demonstrates that sustainability at scale is not only possible, but practical,” says Sanjeev Raghubir, chief sustainability officer at the Shoprite Group. “It also provides a clear framework for rolling out similar efforts across our broader distribution network.”

The milestone forms part of the Shoprite Group’s wider sustainability strategy and commitments, focused on responsible consumption, resource efficiency, waste reduction and increasing recycling across its operations.