From cardboard waste to a new fruit punnet
A winner for the environment: making new products from used materials which you can then sort. At Colruyt Group, we apply this to packaging. Follow the journey that our recycled cardboard takes, from shop waste to sustainable and beautifully finished punnets for our Boni Selection fruit and vegetables.
1. Sorting cardboard in the shop
It all starts by sorting properly at the source. Our shop staff are trained to separate the different waste streams. When they stack the shelves with products, they make sure they keep all the paper and cardboard packaging separate.
2. Transport to the return centre
We get large carts ready to take the sorted cardboard waste to our return centres. Our drivers who deliver to the shops take these carts with them on their return journey. So we also take sustainable transport into account and avoid unnecessary kilometres.
3. Sorted again and compressed
A second sorting round takes place in the return centres to ensure that there are no other recyclable materials caught up in the cardboard. After this extra check, the cardboard waste is compressed into bales ready to be sent to the manufacturer of our fruit punnets.
4. Making new fruit punnets
The manufacturer processes the recycled cardboard into new punnets for fresh fruit and vegetables. The cardboard punnets are more sustainable than the old pulp punnets, and we can also print on them. So as a consumer, you’ll find far more information on them than before.
5. Filling and packing the punnets
Employees in our own distribution centres fill the finished punnets with apples, pears, kiwi fruit, tomatoes and peppers from Boni Selection, Boni Selection Bio and Boni Selection Kids. You buy the packaged products in the shop and put the used punnet into your paper recycling again. The recycling loop is circular.
With this initiative, we contribute to the following Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
