Germany retailer Edeka has said that more than half of the products in its fruit and vegetable department are now free of plastic packaging.
The findings resulted from a market check by Verbraucherzentrale Hamburg (Consumer Centre Hamburg) and the Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband (VZBV), during which the fresh produce assortment of the largest food retailers was analysed for plastic usage.
The German industry average for plastic packaging usage in the fruit and vegetable department is around two-thirds.
Measures Against Plastic
"These findings are a confirmation of our efforts to avoid or reduce packaging and an incentive to consistently pursue this path," said Markus Mosa, CEO of Edeka AG.
The retailer has been working on packaging reduction for many years now, supported by the WWF. As well as avoidance and reduction, Edeka has focused on reusable solutions, recycled material and recyclability.
Selected fruits and vegetables are labelled via 'smart branding', a laser inscription that can save 50 tonnes of plastic per year.
In addition, the number of knot bags has been reduced by around 95 million units over the past three years.
Edeka has also succeeded in reducing or eliminating plastic across its own brands, for example in the field of PET water bottles, fresh counters and disposable tableware.
Moreover, a 'recycling guide' is gradually being introduced in order to facilitate the proper separation and disposal of packaging and its components.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Jana Zimmermann. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
