Sainsbury attacked over green 'hypocrisy'

A LEADING supermarket's claim to have built the greenest petrol station in the UK has been attacked by environmental campaign groups as "greenwash".

The petrol station, at Sainsbury's new superstore in Darnley, Glasgow, is the first of a new chain that the company hopes to build across Britain to lower its carbon footprint and prove its commitment to reducing climate change.

Water is being collected in a 600-litre tank on the roof for use in the car wash and toilets, saving 1.7 million litres annually.

The kerbing has been constructed with recycled glass and plastic instead of environmentally damaging concrete, while use of solar technology is also expected to help contribute to a 50 per cent reduction in energy consumption.

However, Sainsbury's claims over their new "green" petrol station have led to protests from environmental groups in Scotland, who have accused the supermarket giant of hypocrisy.

Juliet Swann, of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: "Whilst these kind of measures to reduce the impact of this petrol station are welcome it is somewhat ironic that they are being utilised on a petrol station, the sale of fuel from which will pump tonnes of climate-changing emissions into the atmosphere."

The green petrol station claim was also branded "absurd" by Green Party MSP Patrick Harvie.

But David Penfold, Sainsbury's head of sustainability and innovation, said: "A normal petrol station with the same specification as Darnley uses energy equivalent to 38 households.

"The new petrol station has been designed to really minimise our need to consume energy."