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Safeway

Grocery chain with stores in Northern California, Nevada, and Hawaii

Safeway
Safeway's Sustainability Rating

Harmful


  • Sourcing & Stocking

    Environmentally-mindful sourcing and stocking commitments?: No

    Promotes collections that help consumers make conscious decisions?: No / not found

    Stocks any Commons top-rated sustainable brands? (proportion of rateable categories): Not analyzed yet

    Has time-bound targets to improve its sourcing for owned-brand products?: No

    Certifications for owned-brands and products?: Unclear - parent company has some Fair Trade certifications


  • Packaging & Plastics

    Heavy reliance on virgin petro plastic?: Yes

    Shares info on ecommerce packaging?: N/A

    Shares info on in-store and upstream packaging?: No / not found

    Shares info on own-brand packaging?: Yes - but reporting could be improved

    Petro-based plastics in packaging?: Yes - but working to reduce

    Recycled plastic?: Partially Recycled

    Uses environmentally-mindful materials (non-plastic) in packaging?: Yes

    These materials include ones that are: compostable, other.

    Targets for improving its packaging materials?: Yes - but no recent progress updates

    Initiatives to reduce packaging volume / intensity?: No / not found

    Plastic waste reduction through partnerships?: No / not found:


  • Energy & Water Use

    Information on parent company (Albertsons Companies):

    Uses renewable energy in its supply chain and/or offices?: Yes - Unknown

    Uses renewable energy in its stores?: Yes - some (<50%)

    Targets for increasing renewable energy?: No / not found

    On track for these targets?: N/A

    Energy efficiency measures?: Yes - thorough

    Efforts to lower shipping emissions (e.g. EVs)?: Yes - specifics shared

    Water conservation measures?: Yes - nonspecific

    Refrigerant management strategy?: Yes - nonspecific

    Any EPA GreenChill certified stores?: No / not found


  • Waste Reduction

    Alt models to promote consumer reuse and recycling?: Recycling schemes

    Packaging disposal guidance?: No / not found

    Corporate waste reduction initiatives?: Other (incl general reducing landfill waste)

    Corporate waste reporting?: No / not found

    Food waste reduction initiatives?: Yes - vague / limited

    Food waste reporting?: Yes - vague / limited


  • Slow Consumption

    Promotes overconsumption?: No


  • Marketing

    Commons is still evaluating this brand's marketing emails.


  • Transparency & Reporting

    Sustainability page on consumer site?: No / not found

    Voluntary annual sustainability report?: Yes - parent company

    Last published: 2025


  • Emissions Tracking

    Information on parent company (Albertsons Companies):

    Reports its emissions?: Yes

    Breakdown in CO2e?: Yes

    Last reported in: 2024

    Estimated emissions footprint: insert number here tons CO2e

    Scope 1+2 emissions intensity compared to industry / competitor average: High


  • Targets & Offsets

    Information on parent company (Albertsons Companies):

    Science-aligned emissions reduction targets?: Yes - SBTi approved

    Target timeframe: Long-term (10+ years)

    Reports progress?: Yes - on track for some

    Climate neutral certification?: No

    Offsets emissions?: No / not found


  • Supply Chain & Labor

    Information on parent company (Albertsons Companies):

    Publishes supplier information for owned production?: No

    Publishes supplier code of conduct?: Yes - parent company

    Code of conduct: prohibits forced labor, establishes grievance mechanisms

    Code of conduct does not sufficiently: disallow unauthorized subcontracting, ensure the right to collective bargaining, ensure a living wage, prohibit child labor, include environmental clauses

    Code of Conduct covers all applicable suppliers (own-production and stocked-brand)?: Unclear

    Labor certifications in supply chain?: No

    3rd-party criticisms of supply chain or labor conditions?: Yes - few


  • Advocacy

    Information on parent company (Albertsons Companies):

    Discloses all trade association memberships?: Nothing to disclose

    Climate-obstructive trade association memberships: None -

    Pro-climate advocacy memberships?: No

    Employs state lobbyists?: Yes

    Percentage of lobbyists that are fossil-fuel aligned: Med 6-12%

    Donated more than $100k to any candidates or PACs from 2018-2024?: Yes

    Amount donated: $100-500K

    How much more was given to obstructive candidates/PACs?: over 100 percent (105%)

We avoid Safeway because its sustainability reporting is incomplete or nonexistent, and its parent company contributes significantly to climate-obstructive financing. Large companies have outsized influence on their industries. When they neglect to act it undermines broader sustainability progress.

Safeway's parent company, Albertsons Companies, is holding back government climate action through its money and influence. It has donated $327,967 to climate-obstructive candidates or PACs since 2018. It spent 105% more on climate-obstructive candidates or PACs than on pro-climate ones.

A large portion of the environmental impact of purchases made at retailers comes from upstream decisions on sourcing materials and ingredients. Retailers are responsible for these decisions for their whitelabel brands, but can also push change by highlighting sustainable options from other brands. Safeway doesn't have any targets to improve sourcing for its whitelabel brands, and it doesn't promote environmentally mindful product collections.

Safeway uses primarily plastic packaging of a virgin or undisclosed source, which contributes greatly to waste production and excess energy use. It has some packaging focused goals, but hasn't provided recent updates on its targets to track any progress. It has initiatives to reduce waste in its corporate operations and reduce food waste in its supply chain, but it doesn't provide detailed reporting on either.

Safeway's parent company reports using (<50%) renewable energy in stores overall, but doesn't disclose renewable energy use in its supply chain or offices. It publicly shares its emissions measurements and has SBTi-approved reduction targets. Its reduction targets are partially on track, though its scope 1+2 emissions intensity remains high compared to competitors.

Our ratings are based on a scale from 1 (harmful) to 5 (best). How we rate →

https://s29.q4cdn.com/239956855/files/doc_downloads/2025/12/RecipeForChangeReport2025.pdf

https://www.epa.gov/greenchill/greenchill-certified-stores

https://www.climatefriendlysupermarkets.org/scorecard

https://www.safeway.com/content/dam/minisite/pdfs/Recyclable%20Items.pdf

https://s29.q4cdn.com/239956855/files/doc_downloads/2024/FY24_Q2_VendorCOCandBE_fnl_Digital.pdf

https://fminus.org/lobbyists/

https://www.fec.gov/data/browse-data/

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Category

Supermarkets & Grocery Stores


Tags

Grocery/Supermarket/Food Store/Food/Drink/Grocery Delivery


Sustainability information was last updated in January 2026.

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