Design

Members and customers of the Co-op are more concerned about packaging and waste than climate change, according to the results of a six-month consultation.

Only 4% of respondents across 12 Co-op societies said they would prioritise further action on climate change, compared with 8% for packaging and waste.

More than 100,000 people across the UK answered the poll, which the company will use as the basis for its responsible retailing strategy.

Co-operative Group chief executive Peter Marks said the company would respond to customers' demands by reducing the weight of its wine packaging, saying it accounted for "half of all our packaging weight".

The Co-op aims to save 450 tonnes of glass per year by reducing the weight of bottles across its range of 26 wines. It uses 8.2 million bottles a year.

Ethical trading was the greatest customer concern, followed by animal welfare, and the company has updated its egg packaging to include its award for Free Range Egg Retailer of the Year from the British Free Range Egg Producers Association.

In 1995, the Co-op became the first retailer to take the technically illegal step of labelling its eggs as "intensively produced", which led to a change in the law and eggs being labelled as "from caged hens".