Keeping the entrance doors of shops closed during opening hours and reducing the heating temperature are the right measures to improve energy savings in stores.
Not only science says this, but also the majority of retail companies and consumers, as emerges from the research "Sustainability trends in retail", carried out by Confimprese in collaboration with Global Strategy and Mbs-Cerved.
The data were presented during the “Retail & Sustainability” conference at Merlata Bloom Milan, which was attended by Elena Grandi, councilor for the environment and greenery of the Municipality of Milan.
And data which is the response that Confimprese was waiting for from the market after launching the 'We are open to energy saving' campaign, which obtained the patronage of the Municipality of Milan and already supported from 2022 by the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security.
“Today we announce that our 'We are open to saving energy' initiative that started in 2022 enters a new phase of development, in which businesses and consumers agree on closed shop doors to reduce emissions and promote energy saving.
In addition to creating culture on sustainability issues, Confimprese's task is also to dialogue with the competent institutions in the awareness that our country still lacks a systemic and long-term vision with respect to the issues of production and consumption responsibility, because there is no supply chain industry to support the energy/ecological transition and to strengthen the circular economy" declared Mario Resca, president of Confimprese.
Analyzing the research data, it emerges that for 45% of clothing and 58% of catering the first objective is to make the points of sale more efficient, the second is the implementation of circular economy activities.
Also for 78.3% of consumers, the reduction of direct and indirect emissions is the first field of intervention for companies, followed by the creation of rules to reduce pollution and the pursuit of circular economy activities.
As for the attitude of retailers towards their resources, 45% of clothing companies and 58% of catering companies indicate as a primary objective that of improving the working conditions of their collaborators through the introduction of fair working hours and wages, a priority also shared by consumers.
The vision of other retail companies is different, with 56% oriented primarily towards introducing methods of greater employee involvement in relation to their needs.
“We strongly support Confimprese's initiative, because it goes in the direction of the actions implemented so far by the Municipality of Milan to combat pollution and support energy saving.