In times of geopolitical tensions and increasingly polarized societies, the companies of Schwarz Group are committed to reliability, partnership and transparency. As one of the largest retail groups in the world, they take their responsibility to the environment, society and politics seriously. In their jointly created Sustainability Report for the 2024 fiscal year, they highlight measurable achievements in the Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) categories and present new sustainability-related developments, including the holistic circular economy strategy, REset Resources, and their group-wide progress on the path to net zero.
REset Resources: Five Action Areas for Embracing the Circular Economy
The circular economy is a fundamental pillar of the sustainability commitment of the companies of Schwarz Group and is therefore a key focus of their latest jointly created Sustainability Report: In the 2024 fiscal year, 88.6 percent of the total group-wide waste was recycled, reused, fermented, composted or used as animal feed. Together, the companies of Schwarz Group are now pursuing ambitious goals and expanding their plastic strategy, REset Plastic, into a holistic circular economy strategy – REset Resources. Across the five action areas – REdesign, REduce, REuse, REcollect and REcycle – REset Resources shapes resource management within Schwarz Group throughout all divisions and countries. From now on, the companies of Schwarz Group are jointly committing to the following guiding principles and packaging targets that, for the first time ever, include all types of packaging and all packaging materials:
| Action Area | Guiding Principle | Packaging Target |
| REdesign | We design our business models to align with circular economy principles. | We will make the packaging for our private-label products as recyclable as possible by 2030. |
| REduce | We reduce the use of resources and prevent waste. | We will reduce virgin material in single-use packaging for our private-label products by 15 percent (absolute) by 2030. |
| REuse | We focus on reuse. | We will transition to nearly 100 percent multi-use pallets for our internal picking processes by 2027. |
| REcollect | We ensure access to recyclable materials. | We will collect and recycle the same quantity of recyclable materials as we put into circulation with our private-label packaging and our household leaflets by 2030. |
| REcycle | We strengthen sophisticated recovery processes and increase the use recycled materials. | We will use 65 percent recycled material in our private-label packaging and use 30 percent recycled material in the plastic primary packaging for our private-label products by 2030. |
Securing Resources, Shaping the Future
Gerd Chrzanowski, General Partner Schwarz Group, explains how the REset Resources strategy will strengthen Europe’s long-term resource sovereignty:
“In these complex and challenging times, we are not only consistently pursuing our joint sustainability commitment – we are also purposefully expanding on it. One example of this is our holistic circular economy strategy, REset Resources. We leverage our unique ecosystem throughout the value cycle to keep critical raw materials in the loop, make ourselves more independent of global supply bottlenecks and forge ahead with European resource sovereignty. In short, we do what we do best: We act – and are always one step ahead.”
A Milestone on the Path to Net Zero: Validated Near-Term Climate Targets
In addition to circular economy, climate action is another declared goal of the companies of Schwarz Group. In 2024, by means of their joint net-zero commitment with the SBTi, they committed to reducing all greenhouse gas emissions that they incur along the value chain to net zero by 2050 at the latest. In spring 2025, the companies of Schwarz Group reached the next milestone on their path to net zero: The independent SBTi checked, validated and approved their near-term climate targets. This means that the joint climate targets have been categorized as science-based targets by an independent body and can be pursued as part of the net-zero commitment.
The measurable achievements in the 2024 fiscal year underscore the shared climate action ambitions of the companies of Schwarz Group: Together, the companies of Schwarz Group generated around 370,000 megawatt-hours of electricity from photovoltaic systems – an increase of roughly nine percent year on year, and equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 106,500 households.
Report Structure
The jointly created Sustainability Report of the companies of Schwarz Group, which was published on July 24, 2025, relates to the period spanning March 1, 2024, until February 28, 2025, and thus includes the full 2024 fiscal year.
Additional Information
You can find further information and the current Sustainability Report of the companies of Schwarz Group at: Sustainability Report.
