7-Eleven Honored for Store Brand Achievement

CHICAGO — 7-Eleven Inc. is recipient of Store Brands magazine's 2016 Store Brand Achievement Award for Best Achievement in Social Responsibility Tied to Store Brands. The convenience store retailer has been recognized for its commitment to reducing its environmental footprint over the next decade.

In July, 7-Eleven announced it is working to set measurable corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals to reduce its environmental footprint through a collaboration with Conservation International (CI), a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to building a healthier, more prosperous and more productive planet through science, policy and partnerships.

7-Eleven's CSR mission consists of three focus areas: planet, products and people. Using 2015 as a baseline, it aims to reduce its carbon footprint overall and increase community engagement in the United States and Canada by concentrating on energy, packaging and philanthropy.

Specifically, 7-Eleven's goals are to reduce its energy footprint in stores and offices by 20 percent by 2025, and reduce its packaging footprint by 20 percent by 2025.

The c-store retailer's own products are part of that mission. To reduce packaging waste, 7-Eleven is designing eco-friendly packaging, such as a recyclable stay-hot coffee cup, private label beverage bottles made with recycled materials and hot food packaging made with less material.

7-Eleven has already decreased electricity use in store operations by an estimated 21 percent over the past seven years via projects such as LED lighting, energy management systems and high efficiency HVAC units. It has also joined CI's Business and Sustainability Council, a forum where corporate leaders who are taking positive environmental actions in their businesses, the company said.

Beginning in 2017, 7-Eleven will also tie its corporate giving to its performance, giving back 1 percent of its net operating income annually with a focus on expanding participation in two of its most successful programs benefitting youth: Project A-Game and Operation Chill.

The Store Brand Achievement Awards honor retailers for innovation in a dozen categories covering product development and marketing. 

Irving, Texas-based 7-Eleven operates, franchises and licenses more than 10,700 7-Eleven stores in North America.

Store Brands magazine is a sister publication of Convenience Store News.