Friends of the Earth (FoE) campaigners are trying to lure consumers away from the major multiples, claiming they emit more greenhouse gases than local shops.
According to FoE government research shows an average supermarket produces the same amount of carbon dioxide as 60 independent retailers.
Sandra Bell, a supermarkets campaigner for the NGO, said supermarkets produced three times as much CO2 per square metre of floor space as greengrocers and twice as much as butchers or small convenience stores.
But the British Retail Association has refuted these claims, saying the government’s research shows supermarkets actually produce less CO2 relative to their size, making them more energy efficient overall.
Kevin Hawkins, director at the Association, said the research done by Sheffield University showed the UK's 7,000 supermarkets produced a total of 2.3m kg of CO2 per year compared with 4m kg produced by 26,000 delicatessens, greengrocers and convenience stores and 7,000 butchers.
“Whether you're looking at energy efficiency at store level or total carbon dioxide emissions, the supermarkets win hands down,” he added.
Bell, however claimed a visit to a supermarket caused more environmental damage overall, taking into account the CO2 emissions of both consumers and haulage trucks. Consumers travel around 890 miles a year further to visit supermarkets, which are often located out of town, she said.
Bell added: “They’re encouraging people to travel further to out-of-town stores to do their shopping, they’re flying in produce from all over the world, they’re transporting it up and down the country through their central distribution systems.
“If you take all that into account then it’s clear that local shops are going to be more efficient than big supermarkets.”
But Hawkins said having central distribution systems was more “environmentally friendly” than the previous supply arrangement which saw each company transport goods directly to the supermarkets.
He added that research by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs revealed “food miles”, including long haul air travel, represented less than 2 per cent of the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions.
