Unicoop Firenze is to be the first grocery retailer in Italy to introduce the new fourth generation of Mater-BI biodegradable and compostable shopping bags.
The regional cooperative is making the move in anticipation of national legislation, which will make the use of compostable fruit and vegetables bags obligatory from the beginning of 2018.
The new shopping bags, to be introduced this month, will be used for bulk butcher and seafood products. They will also replace the earlier generation Mater-BI bags that are already using for shopper bags and fruit bags.
The new Mater-BI bioplastics feature an improved technical performance, a lower level of greenhouse gas emissions and a higher content of renewable raw materials (over 40%), making them even more suitable for collecting wet waste and for soil reforestation.
The new fruit & vegetable bags will be ultra-light, with a degree of transparency far superior to the previous ones.
Since Unicoop Firenze introduced its first biodegradable bags in 2009, an estimated 70% of its customers are now using reusable bags. The Mater-BI bags are produced by Italian bioplastics and biochemicals company Novamont.
© 2017 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
