Spanish retail group Mercadona has extended the rollout of sustainable shopping bags – produced from either paper or recycled plastic – to a further 66 stores, following a successful trial.
The bags were initially tested in 11 stores belonging to the group, and will now be rolled out to stores in Valencia, Barcelona, Biscay, the Balearic Islands and Cantabria.
The group plans to have rolled out the bags to its entire store network by the end of 2019.
The new plastic bags offered cost 10 cents and are produced from 50% to 70% recycled plastic. Another alternative is a raffia basket, which is available for 50 cents. They were launched last May, and backed by a promotional campaign extolling the benefits of a ‘circular economy’ mindset.
Mercadona first introduced measures to reduce the use of single-use plastic bags in 2011, as part of its Plan de Responsabilidad Social (Social Responsibility Plan), which seeks to both embrace both social and ethical approaches to increased sustainability, as well as introduce measures to reduce energy consumption.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.