Rewe introduces recyclate bottles for shower gel
The Rewe Group is introducing recyclate bottles made from recycled material for its own- brand shower gels and liquid soaps.
In the approximately 5,800 Rewe and Penny stores throughout Germany, customers can now find various types of shower gel, shower cream, liquid soaps and cream soaps of the Rewe Group’s own “today” brand in packaging made from 100 percent recycled material, 20 percent of which comes from the household waste collection system in yellow sacks or yellow bins. In this way, the plastic used is kept in a closed circuit. Along with recycled paper, recycled plastic is one of the most important secondary raw materials in the Rewe Group’s packaging strategy. In the case of Rewe’s and Penny’s own-brand and service packaging alone, around 6,400 tonnes (metric tons) of primary plastic per year can currently be saved by using recycled plastic, reports the retailer.
As a founding member of the “Recyclate Initiative”, the Rewe Group works in cooperation with partners from various industries to promote effective recycling and advocates value chains in line with the principle of recycling management. The common goal is to develop sustainable material cycles and to make greater use of the recyclable material from the “yellow sack” source. Since 2017, Rewe and Penny have been continuously converting plastic bottles for detergents, cleaning agents and cleaning agents to packaging consisting of 100 percent recycled material with a share of 20 percent from yellow sacks.
The promotion of a closed cycle in the area of disposable PET too is also an elementary component of the Rewe Group’s efforts to counter plastic waste. For quite some time now many private-label beverage bottles have been made from recycled PET, known as rPET. At the beginning of 2019, with a water bottle made from 100 percent recycled material, Rewe and Penny were the first food retailers to introduce a private label beverage bottle made entirely of recycled plastic. The Group is also already successfully using recycled plastic or rPET material for frozen food carrier bags, convenience and delicatessen packaging, rubbish bags, or paint bins (toom Baumarkt), in order to save on primary plastic.