METRO publishes Packaging & Plastic Report
03 July 2023
As an international wholesaler, METRO has been committed to acting responsibly for many years in the face of global climate challenges. One important aspect of this commitment concerns the development of packaging for own-brand products. Fundamental goals here are to improve the customer experience, increase process efficiency and simultaneously reduce the environmental impact over the entire product life cycle.
Transparent and credible reporting is crucial when it comes to developing and rolling out sustainable packaging. For this reason, METRO has recently published the "Packaging & Plastic Report 2023".
METRO can point to above-average successes in the area of plastic phase out. The original target of saving 2,000 tonnes of plastic packaging for own-brand products by September 2023 has been exceeded and currently stands at 2,303 tonnes.
For EPS (Expanded Polystyrene), also known as Styrofoam, work is actively underway to eliminate EPS from packaging for outdoor furniture and barbecue items. In other categories, the biggest challenge is to find available alternative materials on the market that provide equally well characteristics.
The avoidance of PVC in own-brand packaging promises to be a good signal. In the non-food and near-food categories, PVC has already been completely replaced by PET (polyethylene terephthalate) or PP (polypropylene). Currently, the rate of PVC elimination is 84.7%.
In our goal to achieve 100% FSC/PEFC certification of paper, cardboard, and wood or to have min. 70% recycled material for our own-brand packaging we have been able to get more countries onboarded. Currently, 18 countries have agreed on the common goals and are working together on corresponding initiatives and solutions.
Since 2018, METRO has been working on reporting in the area of plastics and packaging, strictly following the applicable European directives and laws. In particular, data quality and availability are constantly improving and form the basis for successes and practical examples presented in the report.
As part of its sCore strategy, METRO is increasingly focusing on customers from the HoReCa sector (hotels, restaurants, caterers) and expanding its multichannel model. One of the measures planned by 2030 is to increase the share of own-brand products to >35%. Wholesale packaging tailored to professional customers play an important role in the wholesale transformation next to a focused assortment and own-brand products themselves.
