Finnian O'Luasa - Manager France & Belgium - Bord Bia, Irish Food Board
The American explorer Victor Vescovo recently made the deepest dive in history by reaching a depth of 10 927 M in the Pacific ocean’s Mariana Trench. However even in such remote and isolated depth, camera images show plastic waste and sweet wrappings.
This disappointing news has gone worldwide and picked up by all mainstream media such as Le Monde in France. It was also an opportunity to highlight the global damage of plastic in the world’s seas: 100 million tons of plastic are already present in oceans with an extra 5 to 13 million tons being added each year. Only 9% are recycled and 12% incinerated. The “great pacific garbage patch” alone is a floating continent of plastic which measures 3 times the surface of France and contains 80 000 tons of plastic. Faced with such an increased negative image of packaging waste, retail groups and food companies are reacting more actively to reduce environmental impact.
Carrefour France has launched a new e commerce site in May 2019 using the expertise of the loop platform, an initiative launched in partnership with 25 multinational companies such as Nestlé, Mars, Mondelez, Danone as well as the recycling specialist TerraCycle. Loop offers products in reusable-returnable packaging and includes a range of organic products. Consumers return the empty packaging in the original delivery sac via dedicated return transport once the product is consumed. The packing is then washed, sterilised, refilled and reused. After 5 reuses the carbon footprint of the packaging is inferior to that of a single use packaging, including the footprint for return transport.
Terracycle is also present with waste collection points in 800 organic stores in collaboration with 13 different brands that distribute organic certified products. An example is the seafood brand Food4Good who distributes organic and eco certified products vacuum packed in reduced weight and recyclable plastic pouches.
Product offering in loose rather than packaged formats is also becoming more visible in organic stores. According to a consumer study carried out by the French organic agency, 71% of consumers surveyed consider a product offering in loose format as an important purchasing criteria.
Sources :
Le Marin, 16/05/2019, p4.
https://maboutiqueloop.fr/brand/carrefour?affiliate=carrefour
https://fivedeeps.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/FDE-Challenger-Release-FINAL-5132019.pdf