Heilbronn, July 31, 2024. The companies of Schwarz Group will also be reducing their use of new plastic in ways that customers won’t even notice. In future, shopping baskets – both roller baskets and hand-held baskets – of the Lidl and Kaufland retail divisions will be made from reprocessed post-consumer recycled material from the environmental division PreZero instead of from new plastic. This enables the following scenario: A customer purchases a product from Lidl or Kaufland, takes it home and disposes of the plastic packaging in the recycling container. On their next visit to the store, they come across the very same plastic, which has now been cleaned and fashioned into the shape of a hand-held or roller basket.
The two Lidl and Kaufland retail divisions are rethinking their roller and hand-held baskets: In future, hand-held baskets will be made from 75% recycled material, roller baskets from 80% recycled material and XXL roller baskets from 87% recycled material. Shopping baskets already in circulation are being replaced gradually so that baskets that are still in good condition are used for as long as possible. This measure minimizes resource consumption. The new models will then be delivered to stores in all of the countries where Lidl and Kaufland have a presence. Lidl and Kaufland have already made the changeover for hand-held baskets. The changeover for roller baskets will take place throughout July. Across all countries, a saving of 390.62 tons of new plastic per year is anticipated at the two retail divisions as a result of the changeover to the hand-held and roller baskets made from recycled material, in turn giving an estimated saving of 697.53 tons of carbon per year. This is equal to the carbon emissions produced by 1,395 return air trips between Frankfurt and Majorca.
The recycled material used is post-consumer recycled material. It is produced from used packaging that is disposed of in the recycling waste of private households, primarily in Germany. The plastic waste is collected by PreZero, cleaned and processed to produce regranulate. The process creates new, high-quality products that are also more environmentally friendly. The entire recycling and manufacturing process is realized in Europe and is particularly sustainable thanks to the short transport routes involved. Coordination between PreZero and the retail divisions is handled by Schwarz Beschaffung. Schwarz Beschaffung is the central procurement service provider for the companies of Schwarz Group all around the world.
In addition to the new shopping baskets, crash rails made from 99% recycled material are being used to protect the walls of Lidl and Kaufland stores from strong impacts from shopping carts. By switching to the recycled crash rails from PreZero, Lidl and Kaufland were able to save 409.70 tons of new plastic and 725.17 tons of carbon across all countries in 2023.
In addition, Lidl uses recycled plastic film on the roofs of its stores. For this purpose, PCR film waste from Lidl stores and logistics centers is collected, processed at a recycling plant in Upper Austria and then made into roof sheeting. The sheeting in turn is used in all Lidl countries to make buildings leak-proof. The roof sheeting is made from 60% recycled material. This resulted in savings of 153.95 tons of new plastic and 255.56 tons of carbon in 2023.
Using raw materials conscientiously, protecting valuable resources and actively combating climate change – these are matters that drive all companies of Schwarz Group. The "REset Plastic" strategy, jointly developed by the companies of Schwarz Group, includes measures to reduce the use of plastic and activities to promote the circular economy. Throughout the Group, the use of new plastics is being reduced, a switch to recycled material is being implemented and every effort is being made to ensure top recyclability. For, today's waste is tomorrow’s recyclable material: With this strategy, the companies of Schwarz Group contribute to active climate protection and resource conservation.
More information about PreZero can be found at our press portal.
