Safeway releases sustainability report

Pleasanton, Calif. - Safeway has released its sixth annual sustainability report, informed by the Global Reporting Initiative G3 Guidelines. The online report, titled "Heart of Safeway," includes 2013 performance highlights such as hiring 1,833 military veterans and scoring 100% in the Human Rights Campaign Buyer's Guide and Corporate Equality Index



Other highlights include:



• Helped 65% of employees and health plan participants enrolled in the company's Healthy Measures program to improve their cholesterol level from the previous year.



• Achieved No. 2 ranking on Greenpeace's sustainable seafood retail scorecard.



• Continued to make progress in sourcing seafood sustainably, surpassing the 51% milestone toward having all fresh and frozen seafood responsibly caught or farmed by the end of 2015.



• Announced a sustainable sourcing policy for palm oil and a goal to source 1 million pounds of sustainable palm oil in 2014.



• Progressed toward its 2015 goal to eliminate 1 billion plastic and paper bags in its stores, announcing that it already eliminated over 300 million bags since 2011.



• Set a goal to reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2020 versus a 2010 baseline.



• Saved more than 75 million gallons of water across its stores.