Italian retailer Conad has teamed up with CPR System for a reforestation project aimed at increasing carbon storage in the soil while reducing the risk of fire.
The project will be carried out in collaboration with Rete Clima in an area certified according to PEFC forestry standards in the municipality of Bedonia in Italy's Parma province.
Estimates suggest that CO₂ emissions will be reduced by more than 4,000 tonnes over the course of the project, the retailer added.
This project is part of Conad's sustainability strategy, Let's Sustain the Future, based on three pillars: environment and resources, people and community, and business and territory.
Andrea Mantelli, supply chain director of Conad, commented, "The sector in which we operate has a duty and responsibility to review its production and distribution logics in order to contribute to combating climate change.
"For this reason, we consider logistics to be a fundamental strategic asset to build value, committing ourselves to a path towards the reduction of our environmental impact that passes through various aspects: from the optimisation of loads and routes to investments in a fleet of vehicles that are increasingly advanced or that use alternative fuels, to the support of sustainable forest management projects."
Collaboration With CPR System
Conad has been collaborating with CPR System since 2004 and has previously worked together to introduce 'Made in Italy' pallets comprising 100% recycled material for transporting fruit and vegetables, meat and fish products.
Monica Artosi, general manager of CPR System stated, "It is with great pleasure that CPR has participated in this reforestation project, to leave a concrete mark in a path of sustainability that generates real benefits for the territory."
Paolo Viganò, founder of Rete Clima, added, "We strongly believe that the valorisation of the local territory is central in a logic of sustainable development: with this project it has been chosen to support a Sustainable Forestry Management (SFM) activity in the same territorial areas where CPR System's activities and facilities are located."
"The territory thus becomes a privileged place for environmental action, a sphere of development of projects that generate concrete and measurable environmental benefits."
