Lidl Portugal has introduced 100% recyclable and reusable polyester bags for fruit and vegetables.
The bags support a weight up to 5 kilograms and can be washed multiple times at 30ºC.
If each bag is used once a week, 52 fewer plastic bags will have entered the system by the end a year, the retailer said.
The move will also help Lidl's parent company, the Schwarz Group, to fulfil the commitments outlined in its plastic strategy, REset Plastic.
By 2025, the retailer aims to replace plastics in its around a fifth of its own-brand products with 100% recyclable materials.
Plastic Bags
By the end of July, more than half of the 253 Lidl stores in Portugal will cease the sale of plastic bags.
The retailer will provide, as an alternative, paper bags in two sizes – medium and large for €0.10 and €0.14 respectively.
The bags, made of 60% to 70% recycled paper pulp, have obtained an FSC Mixed certification.
Lidl will also continue to offer raffia bags, comprised of 60% recycled material and priced at €0.50.
Reusable Net Bags
Auchan Retail Portugal, which operates the Jumbo chain in Portugal, also plans to introduce reusable, washable, resistant, durable polyester net bags as an alternative to plastic bags.
The retailer has launched a pilot project for the bags in its store in Cascais. Each bag holds up to four products and is available in a set of three for €2.45.
The sustainability and environment manager of Auchan Retail Portugal, Rita Cruz, estimates that reusable packaging could reduce the use of 67 tonnes of plastic per year.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
