Mercadona reveals its four-year plan for cutting plastic waste and protecting the planet
16/03/2021
SUPERMARKET chain Mercadona has detailed its game-plan for cutting plastic waste in a press release – which includes using 100% recycled material for its 'squeeze-your-own' orange juice bottles.
The company's 'Strategy 6.25' includes cutting plastic use by 25% by the year 2025, using only packaging, wrapping and containers which can be recycled, and recycling all its own plastic waste.
Although the orange-juice counter – where nationally-produced, and usually very locally-grown, oranges are stuffed into a giant press for customers to fill up themselves – has long been extremely popular, some consumers had expressed their concerns about the high amount of disposable plastic it involves.
Three sizes of bottle – one litre, currently €2.79; half a litre, €1.79 at present, and 250ml, retailing at the moment at 99 cents – are taken from the rack by the customer and filled, but even though washing and reusing them does not cause any problems with the bar code at the till, this is not generally permitted and was not recommended even before the pandemic.
Suggestions of a scheme whereby customers return their used bottles and get a small discount on their juice have not been taken up, but these were redesigned a few months ago and are now 100% recycled plastic, meaning the issue of their disposable nature and potential pollution is only a problem if users put them in the landfill bin rather than the yellow recycling bank.
By making its bottles solely from recycled plastic rather than from newly-manufactured material, Mercadona will prevent the creation of 700 tonnes of 'new' plastic every year, thus contributing to the circular economy.
In addition to their recycled bottles, Mercadona has replaced its lightweight 'weigh-your-own' fruit and vegetable bags – instead of traditional plastic, they are now made from plant fibre, meaning they are biodegradable.
These can be disposed of in the 'brown bins', the latest addition to Spain's recycling bank collection, used for organic waste which is then turned into biomass for fuel or compost for the agricultural industry.
As yet, not every town in Spain has a 'brown bin', but at least, if the plant-fibre bags are disposed of in landfill, they will break down very quickly rather than taking centuries to do so as plastic does.
Potato-fibre bags used in store will eventually mean a reduction of 3,200 tonnes of 'new' plastic per year.
Like all mainstream supermarkets in Spain, Mercadona recycles as much as it can already – in response to consumer concerns during lockdown, the company assured that all plastic gloves customers were required to use and then dispose of at the store entrance would be professionally cleaned and then deposited in the yellow bin – but within the next four years, the corporate pledge is that every single last scrap of plastic it generates will be recycled.
The 'Strategy 6.25' also involves adapting stores – so far, 72 branches in Spain and Portugal now follow the 'Store 6.25' model – and all of its outlets will have been upgraded accordingly by the end of 2021.
Mercadona's strategy is so-named because it has six environmentally-friendly objectives it intends to meet by the year 2025 – as well as the three relating to plastic use, and adapting its stores to be more energy-efficient, they include coordination with suppliers and contractors, and waste management, which includes guiding the public on how to separate their rubbish for recycling.
Tienda 6.25 ('6.25 Store') branches are designed for customers and staff to be able to give their views on sustainability measures the company takes – already, the firm has received over 5,000 suggestions since the scheme started in 2019 – as well as cutting its carbon footprint by using electricity and water more efficiently and reducing emissions.
Delivery vehicles are gradually being upgraded or adapted to use clean fuel, and around 500 stores nationwide have 1,350 electric car charging points in car parks, a number that it intends to keep on increasing over the course of this year.
The strategy goes hand in hand with Mercadona's existing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) plan, through which it works with over 290 soup kitchens, 60 food banks and many other, similar entities in Spain and Portugal.
In 2020, the company donated 17,000 tonnes of food – 15,800 in Spain – to food banks and soup kitchens, and increased the number of charitable and aid foundations and occupational centres it works with to 32.
One example of this included wall-decorations in its stores, designed and made up by over 1,000 people with disabilities.
Also, for the last decade, Mercadona has been a member of the United Nations' World Pact on protecting basic human rights, workers' rights, the environment, and fighting corruption.
Supermarkets across Spain in general are working hard on updating their practices in line with growing customer demands for ethical practices and products and sustainability, and some of them have managed to get ahead of Mercadona in various areas.
Valencia regional chain Mas y Mas was one of the first to replace its loose-weighed fruit and vegetable bags with biodegradable plant-fibre versions, and its bananas are packaged in what looks like plastic but is actually made from sugar beet, meaning it is biodegradable and can be disposed of in the organic-waste 'brown bin'.
Also, whilst Mercadona's carrier bags state on them that they are made with 50-70% recycled material, those at Mas y Mas use 80%-plus recycled plastic.
Another move by Mas y Mas was to start retailing reusable fruit and vegetable bags created by the designer shopping-trolley firm Rolser, whose pull-along carts in all shapes, sizes and colours are hugely popular in the region.
Around a year ago, Carrefour launched a range of reusable shopping bags using Seaqual Yarn – a completely-traceable recycled polyester of which at least 20% is made from plastic waste scooped out of the Mediterranean by Spanish fishermen, and the remainder entirely from recycled consumer plastic.
These bags were immediately recognisable by their colourful 'fish' patterns.
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SUPERMARKET chain Mercadona has detailed its game-plan for cutting plastic waste in a press release – which includes using 100% recycled material for its 'squeeze-your-own' orange juice bottles.
The company's 'Strategy 6.25' includes cutting plastic use by 25% by the year 2025, using only packaging, wrapping and containers which can be recycled, and recycling all its own plastic waste.
Although the orange-juice counter – where nationally-produced, and usually very locally-grown, oranges are stuffed into a giant press for customers to fill up themselves – has long been extremely popular, some consumers had expressed their concerns about the high amount of disposable plastic it involves.
Three sizes of bottle – one litre, currently €2.79; half a litre, €1.79 at present, and 250ml, retailing at the moment at 99 cents – are taken from the rack by the customer and filled, but even though washing and reusing them does not cause any problems with the bar code at the till, this is not generally permitted and was not recommended even before the pandemic.
Suggestions of a scheme whereby customers return their used bottles and get a small discount on their juice have not been taken up, but these were redesigned a few months ago and are now 100% recycled plastic, meaning the issue of their disposable nature and potential pollution is only a problem if users put them in the landfill bin rather than the yellow recycling bank.
By making its bottles solely from recycled plastic rather than from newly-manufactured material, Mercadona will prevent the creation of 700 tonnes of 'new' plastic every year, thus contributing to the circular economy.
In addition to their recycled bottles, Mercadona has replaced its lightweight 'weigh-your-own' fruit and vegetable bags – instead of traditional plastic, they are now made from plant fibre, meaning they are biodegradable.
These can be disposed of in the 'brown bins', the latest addition to Spain's recycling bank collection, used for organic waste which is then turned into biomass for fuel or compost for the agricultural industry.
As yet, not every town in Spain has a 'brown bin', but at least, if the plant-fibre bags are disposed of in landfill, they will break down very quickly rather than taking centuries to do so as plastic does.
Potato-fibre bags used in store will eventually mean a reduction of 3,200 tonnes of 'new' plastic per year.
Like all mainstream supermarkets in Spain, Mercadona recycles as much as it can already – in response to consumer concerns during lockdown, the company assured that all plastic gloves customers were required to use and then dispose of at the store entrance would be professionally cleaned and then deposited in the yellow bin – but within the next four years, the corporate pledge is that every single last scrap of plastic it generates will be recycled.
The 'Strategy 6.25' also involves adapting stores – so far, 72 branches in Spain and Portugal now follow the 'Store 6.25' model – and all of its outlets will have been upgraded accordingly by the end of 2021.
Mercadona's strategy is so-named because it has six environmentally-friendly objectives it intends to meet by the year 2025 – as well as the three relating to plastic use, and adapting its stores to be more energy-efficient, they include coordination with suppliers and contractors, and waste management, which includes guiding the public on how to separate their rubbish for recycling.
Tienda 6.25 ('6.25 Store') branches are designed for customers and staff to be able to give their views on sustainability measures the company takes – already, the firm has received over 5,000 suggestions since the scheme started in 2019 – as well as cutting its carbon footprint by using electricity and water more efficiently and reducing emissions.
Delivery vehicles are gradually being upgraded or adapted to use clean fuel, and around 500 stores nationwide have 1,350 electric car charging points in car parks, a number that it intends to keep on increasing over the course of this year.
The strategy goes hand in hand with Mercadona's existing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) plan, through which it works with over 290 soup kitchens, 60 food banks and many other, similar entities in Spain and Portugal.
In 2020, the company donated 17,000 tonnes of food – 15,800 in Spain – to food banks and soup kitchens, and increased the number of charitable and aid foundations and occupational centres it works with to 32.
One example of this included wall-decorations in its stores, designed and made up by over 1,000 people with disabilities.
Also, for the last decade, Mercadona has been a member of the United Nations' World Pact on protecting basic human rights, workers' rights, the environment, and fighting corruption.
Supermarkets across Spain in general are working hard on updating their practices in line with growing customer demands for ethical practices and products and sustainability, and some of them have managed to get ahead of Mercadona in various areas.
Valencia regional chain Mas y Mas was one of the first to replace its loose-weighed fruit and vegetable bags with biodegradable plant-fibre versions, and its bananas are packaged in what looks like plastic but is actually made from sugar beet, meaning it is biodegradable and can be disposed of in the organic-waste 'brown bin'.
Also, whilst Mercadona's carrier bags state on them that they are made with 50-70% recycled material, those at Mas y Mas use 80%-plus recycled plastic.
Another move by Mas y Mas was to start retailing reusable fruit and vegetable bags created by the designer shopping-trolley firm Rolser, whose pull-along carts in all shapes, sizes and colours are hugely popular in the region.
Around a year ago, Carrefour launched a range of reusable shopping bags using Seaqual Yarn – a completely-traceable recycled polyester of which at least 20% is made from plastic waste scooped out of the Mediterranean by Spanish fishermen, and the remainder entirely from recycled consumer plastic.
These bags were immediately recognisable by their colourful 'fish' patterns.