Lidl has become the first supermarket chain in Spain to remove all plastic bags from its 550 establishments, proving its commitment to environmental sustainability.
Since 1st January that all single-use plastic items (plastic tableware, straws or cotton sticks for the ears) are no longer available at any store. For those who forget their own bags, they offer recycled ones made with raffia instead—fibres from a type of palm tree—for 50 cents.
The story began a few months ago, in May. After removing the plastic bags in all the supermarkets in the Balearics, the supermarket chain Lidl extended the measure to Catalonia and Madrid, and later announced that in 2019 would remove all single-use plastic items, and is committed to ensuring that all plastic containers of own-branded products are 100% recyclable up to 2025.
These measures are aligned with the European Union proposal, which considers banning the use of light single-use plastic products by 2020. In a press conference, the company said the new measures would stop the distribution of more than 100 million bags a year, which avoids the production of more than 1,300 tons of plastic and the emission of more than 1,000 tons of CO2 per year. “This reduction will also result in the loss of €1.5 million a year”, said a manager of the company.
Some researchers suggest that by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans, and the only true way to stop it is being more conscious of our behaviour and avoid using plastic EVERY time we can. No more straws, no more bags.
Life in plastic, it’s not fantastic!