Spanish cooperative Consum has announced that 100% recycled plastic bags are now available throughout its entire sales network.
Consum said that through its in-house circular economy initiative, the cooperative has increased its 70% recycling rate and is now recycling more than 2,000 tonnes of plastic waste per year, ceasing to use virgin plastic.
In time, Consum plans to recover more than 2,600 kilos of plastic per year.
Reverse Logistics
Part of this recycled material comes from Consum's own logistics packaging waste, which is recovered through reverse logistics and transformed into new bags.
The new bags are made from a single recycled material, with water-based inks, making them more sustainable and easily recyclable.
Recycled Plastic Bags
Consum offers its customers two types of fully recycled plastic bags – a small bag, priced at €0.07 and a larger bag, priced at €0.15.
The Spanish cooperative is also carrying out awareness campaigns among its member-customers to reduce the use of shopping bags, which includes a customer rewards scheme.
Online Store
The retailer has also put in place a programme to manage the collection and reuse of plastic bags from its online store, which are collected from customers' homes.
This service, which was implemented in 2022, is available in nearly 450 towns in Valencia, Alicante, Castellón, Albacete, Barcelona, Tarragona, Almería, Murcia and Girona, where Consum operates its online services.
This involves collecting plastic bags from customers who make online purchases when they receive a new order.
Collected bags are then transferred to a treatment plant in Silla, Barcelona or Murcia, where they are transformed into pellets, particles of used plastic material, which are then used to manufacture new bags.
