Belgian retail group Colruyt has launched a new 'large-scale' infrastructure and awareness anti-litter campaign, it announced Thursday.
The programme will be launched within the scope of its 'Joining hands for less street litter' five-year plan.
The €700,000 investment will include such amenities as 600 smoker's 'poles', 600 rubbish bins, and 30 suspended rubbish bins, as well as a 'litter island' for sorting residual and PMD waste (plastic bottles and flasks, metal packaging, and aluminum lined cardboard drink packaging waste).
The company will be rolling out the programme in 220 Colyruyt shop car parks and at many of the group's central sites. It had previously carried out a pilot project in 11 shop car parks resulting in 25% less litter, with more rubbish disposed of properly.
Vic De Meester, environmental coordinator at Colruyt Group said of the project, “We want to create a leverage effect, primarily through our employees, but also through our customers. We take on our social responsibility by setting a good example and by offering the appropriate infrastructure.”
Awareness Campaign
The infrastructure programme will be accompanied by an awareness campaign, which will consist of posters in shops and nearby bus shelters, labels on more than four million litter-prone disposable packaging items, and an anti-litter 'challenge'. The ‘Trash Can Trick Shot’ challenge encourages customers and employees to bin their rubbish with an innovative and unique trick shot, record it, and upload it to social media. The most popular videos will win a variety of prizes, including electric bikes, rubbish sorting bins, and vouchers.
“We are focusing more than ever on long-term behavioural change. This is also necessary for stopping public littering. Everyone thinks it makes sense to throw everything away properly at home, but that’s not yet the case outdoors. We need to change that behaviour urgently. The experiment with litter islands shows that behavioural change is possible.
"In addition, we’re also going for a total approach, because litter is far more than just PET bottles and cans. With all these efforts, and together with our almost 30,000 employees, we’re supporting the government in the fight for less litter,” De Meester added.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Karen Henderson. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
