Dutch supermarket group Albert Heijn, a retail subsidiary of Ahold Delhaize, plans to introduce a voluntary deposit on all plastic juice bottles.
The initiative aims to clarify deposit options for customers and ensure more plastic bottles are collected and recycled correctly.
The scheme will see plastic bottles of soft drinks, water and juice from Albert Heijn's own-brand range eligible for deposit.
Plastic Bottle Deposits
Currently, deposit obligation applies to plastic bottles and bottles of soft drinks, water, and juices to which sugar or water has been added.
This obligation does not apply to products that consist of 100% juice, the retailer noted.
Statiegeld Nederland recently announced that it will open the deposit system for all juices in plastic bottles.
Henk van Harn, director of merchandising & sourcing at Albert Heijn, said, "This is a positive development, both for our customers, who now no longer have to wonder whether there is a deposit on their bottle of juice, and for the climate, because more plastic bottles can be collected and recycled."
Sustainability
The voluntary deposit on all own-brand plastic juice bottles is in line with Albert Heijn's sustainability aims.
The retailer has also taken steps to make plastic bottles more sustainable. All fresh juices are packed in bottles made of 100% recycled PET with washable labels that are also 100% recyclable.
The retailer has also introduced refillable bottles for freshly squeezed orange juice as a sustainable alternative to disposable plastic bottles.
It added that 42,000 of these bottles have already been sold.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest Packaging news. Article by Conor Farrelly. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
