I’m not the first and I definitely won’t be the last to say that there is far too much (unnecessary) plastic packaging on foods.It’s everywhere! As soon as you step foot through the automatic doors in the supermarket it’s all you can see.
Can somebody please tell me why its necessary for a broccoli head to be sealed in plastic? And don’t get me started on the excessive plastic wrappers on stalks of celery.
Take a look at the press release below from the Australian supermarket, Coles; now they’ve got the right idea…
A Coles supermarket in Sydney has become the first Australian supermarket to run a zero waste pilot project where nothing will be sent to landfills, as one of several initiatives to help Coles meet its commitment to become Australia’s most sustainable supermarket, diverting the equivalent of 6 ½ shopping carts worth of waste that would typically have gone to landfills each day.
试验的目的是改变店内流程，更注重源头分离，并与新工厂合作，将废物作为一种资源使用。这将意味着更多包装和未包装的食品、纸板、塑料、金属、玻璃、蜡盒、聚苯乙烯和木材将从垃圾填埋场转移。
Coles Chief Property and Export Officer Thinus Keeve says the trial of a zero waste to landfill store will help Coles find new ways to reduce waste in stores.
Sustainable Supermarkets start with zero waste
“Waste management is a key component of the sustainability of any business and reducing waste is a very important issue for our customers,” said Thinus. “Everyone knows Australia has challenges in how we deal with our waste. That goes for everyone from households sorting their recycling to businesses like Coles. We all have a responsibility to play our part.”
The zero waste to landfill trial store will find new ways to recover residual dry waste such as mixed plastic and timber which historically has been the most difficult to divert from landfill.
Coles is partnering with Cleanaway ResourceCo to recover energy from this waste through the Cleanaway ResourceCo Recovery Facility (RRF) in Wetherill Park. The facility uses dry waste to produce Process Engineered Fuel (PEF), which is then used to offset the demands of heavy industry for fossil fuels.
Cleanaway’s Alex Hatherley, Regional Manager, Solid Waste Services NSW, said “This is a great solution for Coles stores that produce high volumes of mixed back-of-house plastics but want to achieve a zero waste to landfill goal.”
“Our facility is unique in its ability to divert commercial dry waste from landfills, recover recyclable materials and then convert the remaining combustibles to a sustainable fuel source, PEF.” Hatherley explained.
Doug Elliss, General Manager of the Cleanaway ResourceCo Wetherill Park facility said, “We’re playing a key role in Australia’s future sustainable energy mix by reducing waste that would otherwise go to landfill and lowering carbon emissions through production of a commercially viable sustainable fuel.”
Coles Group sustainability report
The trial comes as Coles Group has released its first Sustainability Report as a stand-alone publicly listed company该项目承诺降低其对环境的影响，包括努力在2022年前将90%的垃圾从垃圾填埋场转移出去。
“At Coles, we are proud of our partnership with food rescue services Secondbite and Foodbank. Through our supermarkets and distribution centres we donated 12.5 million kilograms of unsold edible food to SecondBite and Foodbank last financial year -- the equivalent of 25 million meals for people in need,” Thinus said.
Repurposing out of date food as animal feed
“Many supermarkets also provide food waste directly to farmers to use as animal feed.These stores across our Coles network donated 13.8 million kilograms to farmers last financial year, an increase of 11 per cent.”
“但我们能做的总是更多。所有我们不能给secondbit的东西，我们都想给农民用来喂养他们的动物，回收成堆肥或转化为能源。”
“We were the first Australian supermarket to offer REDcycle plastic recycling in every store. We were the first Australian supermarket to sign a renewable energy PPA, which will see Coles sourcing 10 per cent of its national energy needs from three solar farms in regional NSW.”
“We are now the first Australian supermarket to attempt a zero waste to landfill store. Coles is passionate about driving generational sustainability with innovation that reduces environmental impact.”
诚然，当我还是个“年轻人”的时候，塑料包装和垃圾并不是我关注的东西，但让我告诉你，现在它是我最讨厌的东西之一。我个人会选择尽可能多的有机、松散的食物，但我总是在某些产品上挣扎，尤其是水果、蔬菜和意大利面等产品。它们总是用塑料包装。
Too much plastic packaging
找到我要找的东西绝对不容易，而且会让人沮丧;there are barely any organic and plastic-free packaging options available in big supermarkets. If the product is organic, you can guarantee that it’s packaged in plastic (go figure!)
And don’t get me started on the huge price difference - I can fully understand why people choose the cheap, excessive plastic wrapped options - the extra cost for trying to ‘do the right thing’ can be to costly at times.
Having grown up in the U.K. but also having spent 2 years of my adult life living in North America, I can say that the two are pretty much on the same level when it comes to plastic packaging issues. Albeit, certain areas of North America where it's rural can be a little bit better due to having more accessible options to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables and some supermarkets like the Canadian chain Save on Foods (The Overwaitea Food Group) having the option to refill certain products (although this needs some major work to give more organic options imho).
We want North America to take a step towards zero waste
The bigger supermarket chains across the US and Canada need to take a page out of Coles’ book and get with the times. We want zero waste to landfill sites grocery stores too!
Now you know about thezero waste grocery store pilot in Sydney, Australia, learn more aboutwaste reduction, growing food at home, composting, and othereasy lifestyle changes to reduce your environmental footprintin these pages :
Find more about green home constructionin the EcohomeGreen Building Guide pages- also, learn more aboutthe benefits of a free Ecohome Network Membership here. |
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