Tesco's first eco-store has cardboard signs

Tesco has opened its first green branch. The Cheetham Hill, Manchester, superstore is timber framed and has a carbon footprint 70% smaller than an equivalent store built in 2006.

The property uses a combination of energy-efficiency measures, CO₂-cooled fridges and is fuelled with recycled cooking oil in combined CHP.

Sustainable store interior features include: timber frame, roof lights, hanging signage made of cardboard; reduced materials in shelving; and fully recyclable plastic moulded checkout packing areas. The entrance lobby reduces the store's heat load.

But the giant is not giving anything away for free. It is lobbying government to introduce fast-track planning permission and cut business rates for green stores.

Lucy Neville-Rolfe, Tesco's corporate-affairs director, said: "Green stores should be given a fast track not a slow track through the planning system."

The retailer said that one-fifth of its planning applications to build wind turbines at stores have been either rejected or delayed.