An Albert outlet in Chodov, Prague, has installed a smart packaging wall in a bid to reduce packaging waste for dry goods.
Customers can choose from the widest range of dry goods in special refillable containers, the Czech retailer noted.
The retailer, which is part of the Ahold Delhaize group, is implementing the packaging-free sales and technological solution in cooperation with the Czech company MIWA.
Albert Hypermarket Chodovský
The Albert hypermarket in Chodovský now offers more than 80 items in smart packaging. For food products, shoppers can choose to use smart resealable containers that are reusable or bring their own containers.
The smart food containers on offer can be returned, the retailer added.
In the retailer's packaging-free drugstore and cosmetics section, refillable containers for bulk goods and special cans for liquid items are available.
Martina Černá, director of sustainability and health at Albert Stores, said, "Unpackaged packaging, which is based on the re-use of the same packaging, is a sustainable step. We are anxiously awaiting how customers will accept the unwrapped purchase and start using it repeatedly.
"This concept is so far unique in the world of Czech hypermarkets and we are glad that we can present it in the Chodov store, which a few years ago won the award in the Diamond League of Quality as the best Czech store."
Albert had previously tested the purchase of dry goods from shoppers in a hypermarket in Butovice, Prague, but this new system is even more sophisticated.
Sustainability At Albert
Albert has reduced its carbon footprint by almost 20% over the last three years by implementing a number of sustainability projects.
Last year alone, the group saved 192 tonnes of plastic in fruit and vegetables by reducing the amount of plastic packaging it uses.
The retailer also saved packaging in logistics, for example by using innovations such as textile doors on transport cages, or by reducing the plastic packaging of meat.
Other projects Albert is undertaking to reduce its emissions include composters for organic waste, which operate in two dozen stores, and under-sink separators for pre-treatment of wastewater.
As part of the digitisation of its operation, the retailer introduced electronic price tags that saved paper, while also giving shoppers the option of a digital receipt in the My Albert mobile application.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Conor Farrelly. For more Packaging news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
