Austria’s Interspar is tackling plastic waste in its fresh produce aisle by introducing reusable plastic bags for loose fruit and veg.
The retailer’s new polyester net bags are machine washable at 30°C and can be reused as often as desired, according to Interspar.
The bags start saving on plastic waste after their sixth use, due to the material that goes into making them being more ecoligically friendly than a conventional plastic bag.
Each bag can carry the weight of up to eight apples. They are available at all Interspar hypermarkets fruit and veg departments across Austria for €1.49.
Reusable Bag Trend
Spar Austria began trialling reusable Spar Natur*pur shopping bags last week, which are made from renewable, GMO-free sugar cane, and are produced by Graz-based biopolymer company Weforyou.
The adoption of reusable shopping bags is a growing trend across Europe. Last year, Spar Austria says that it saw sales of reusable bags increase by 8%.
Last November, Swiss retailer Coop introduced a similar reusable fruit and veg Multi-Bag, which sourced from sustainable beechwood.
In January, the European Commission launched the first-ever Europe-wide strategy on plastics, with a focus on reducing waste and moving towards a more circular economy, which has lead many retailers and brands to examine the use of plastic.
For example, discount retailer Aldi is scrapping the sale of single-use plastic bags in all of its stores in Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Kevin Duggan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
