Mercadona will invest 140 million euros in its Strategy 6.25 until 2025. The supermarket chain started this plan three years ago to reduce plastic and improve the management of plastic waste in its stores.
According to the Valencian distribution company, the strategy consists of six concrete actions to achieve a threefold objective by 2025: reducing plastic packaging by 25%, making all plastic packaging recyclable, and recycling all plastic waste generated in its processes.
To this end, the company has already eliminated single-use plastic bags in all sections and disposable single-use plastic products. It has also been improving the recyclability of its packaging.
Mercadona is immersed in the reduction of plastic in its own-brand packaging through different strategies, and it is driving changes in search of more sustainable and innovative options in its commitment to promoting the circular economy and the reuse of materials and resources.
Another strategy is the incorporation of recycled plastic in the packaging, thus giving a second life to the raw materials. In addition, the company is committed to the reuse of packaging through "refills."
In the last two years, Mercadona has worked to achieve the first two actions of the strategy and meet the commitment to convert all its centers into 6.25 stores in less than a year, which has involved an investment of 30 million euros.
Developing Strategy 6.25 involves changes in different company processes, from the redesign of future packaging in coordination with suppliers to the adaptation of stores, logistics, and waste management processes, among others.
This is an ambitious plan, transversal to all areas of the company, in which Mercadona plans to invest more than 140 million euros until 2025, according to the same sources.
Last year, the company transformed all its stores to the "6.25 Store" model, which offers customers new section bags, indicative pictograms in the containers to facilitate correct separation, and recycling bins in the different departments, store entrances, and the 'Ready to Eat' area.
In addition, for this new model, the waste management system has been improved and has been expanded with the collection of coffee capsules.
Each year, Mercadona recovers more than 267,000 tons of recyclable materials that become raw materials in production cycles. It is the company's way of advancing, in collaboration with its customers, more efficiently toward the circular economy.
Source: efeagro.com