The Secretary of State for environment, food and rural affairs Caroline Spelman MP addressed some of the country's leading retailers and members of the BRC at the group's Sustainable Retail reception today.
Ms Spelman delivered the event's keynote speech, during which she spoke of retailers' responsibility towards encouraging customers to go green.

She said: "Retailers have a crucial influence on the way consumers buy and live ... Customers want to go green, and retailers must make it easier for them to do so."

One retailer who agreed with this statement was Gordon Bentley from the Home Retail Group. Speaking to DIY Week at the event, he said Homebase customers were looking to be more sustainable in their home improvements and that the group was making every effort to meet these needs.

"The interest in sustainability is there in our customers," he said. "There's great demand for our timber products, as well as or grow-your-own range."

The BRC event marked the launch of a new report from the group, highlighting increasing recognition among retailers of the importance of reducing waste and carbon emissions. The report revealed retailers' exceeded targets for reduction of waste, beating the target of 15% by 2013 two years early. Other positive results were recorded for lowered transport delivery emissions (down 23% in 2011) and a 20% cut to energy emissions from buildings.

One retail giant who used the event to showcase their dedication towards reducing the problem of excess homewares waste going to landfill was John Lewis. The group introduced delegates to its Upholstery Reuse Trial, which will involve redistribution of the three million items of re-usable furniture that gets thrown away in the UK every year, to needy households.

The waste generated in the sale of DIY and hardware products is a subject B&Q says it is dedicated towards tackling. Speaking exclusively to DIY Week during the BRC reception, Kay Hedges from the company's packaging division said the retailer is looking to introduce several new ranges of reusable products. These will range from new kitchen lines to doors, solar panels and recyclable paint cans.

When asked for B&Q's standpoint on whether retailers should set an example to encourage greener living in their customers, she said that when it comes to home improvement, retailers should take complete responsibility for their customers' sustainability.

"Retailers should do it all for them and it shouldn't have to cost more," she said.

"Packaging waste is a huge issue for companies like B&Q because so much of what we sell is large and bulky. We're trying to take packaging into account with product design now, seeing how we can adapt the products themselves to produce less waste when the customer has taken it home.

"It's something the innovation and sustainability teams are constantly working on."

A full copy of the BRC's new progress report entitled 'A Better Retailing Climate: Towards Sustainable Retail' can be found via their website.