Beyond Meat packaging becomes more sustainable
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More and more countries in the EU are banning single-use bags from supermarkets. In the Netherlands, five supermarket chains have now announced that they will no longer offer single-use bags when selling fruit and vegetables.
This year, free single-use bags for fruit and vegetables will disappear from Dutch supermarkets. Instead, customers will be able to use reusable bags that they can wash at home. With this joint initiative, five supermarket chains aim to save around 126 million plastic bags and 10 million paper bags every year. State Secretary Vivianne Heijnen is calling on other supermarkets to follow suit so that reusable bags soon become the new norm.
Albert Heijn, Aldi, Jumbo, Lidl and Plus are participants in the Plastic Pact NL. This alliance of the Dutch government and more than 100 leading companies in the plastics chain has set itself the goal of achieving this, use less plastic and improve recycling. If they work together, they can achieve more than individual companies.
Reuse must become the norm
State Secretary Vivianne Heijnen (Environment): "The less waste we all bring into the chain, the less we ultimately have to process. That's why I welcome the initiative by Dutch supermarkets to abolish single-use bags for potatoes, vegetables and fruit. It would be great if all supermarkets would join this initiative."
Carlijn Röell, operational director of Plastic Pact NL, emphasised that the collaboration between the supermarkets is an important milestone. "Consumers need to get used to the fact that reusing packaging is normal as quickly as possible. It is therefore important that as many supermarket chains as possible join in. Plastic Pact NL will continue to support such joint initiatives."
Last year, Albert Heijn was the first supermarket to ban single-use plastic bags and replace them with sustainable, reusable bags for fresh food. The other four supermarkets will do the same in the course of this year. This is laid down in a joint declaration of intent that they signed on 23 February. Paper bags for fruit and vegetables will also have to disappear.
Source: Plastic Pact NL
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