Albert, the Czech division of the Ahold Delhaize retail group, has invested 23 million koruna (€890,000) in a new recycling centre in Klecany, north of Prague.
The centre will increase the recycling capacity of the Czech retailer by 6,000 tonnes per year, it said in a statement.
Recycling
Albert has been recycling packaging materials for the last 15 years, and reuses up to 6,000 tonnes of packaging each year, creating new packaging that is then sent into circulation.
Paper and PE foils are processed in the group's recycling centres, with paper being the largest contributor in terms of materials, accounting for up to 5,000 tonnes of the total.
The retailer is capable of recycling 12,000 tonnes of packaging each year through the new centre in Klecany, as well as previously existing sites in Olomouc and Březhrad.
Pavel Mikoška, Albert's quality store director, says that the group's environmental policy plays a huge role in the decision-making process of the retailer, as the group takes into account "the overall reduction of the burden on the environment, reduction of energy intensity, or carbon footprint" on all matters.
Mikoška says the new recycling centre will enable the group "to sort and process used packaging materials even more efficiently."
Location
The new centre was built in the second half of 2020 on the same site as a company distribution centre in Klecany.
The recycling centre occupies 700 square metres of the 1,250 square meters at the site, and adds another recycling press to the facility.
The facility is also used to collect unsold dairy products that are no longer suitable for donation from stores. These are then converted into thermal energy in a biogas plant.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Conor Farrelly. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
