3 minutes

1. REDUCING WASTE

Jerónimo Martins provides recycling points in the Group’s stores for its customers for waste collection. There they’ll find recycling points for batteries, light bulbs, used cooking oil and coffee pods, among others. In 2016, over 700 tonnes of waste were collected in nearly 10,000 recycling points. Separately, the Group has been working to improve the eco-efficiency profile of its Private Brand packaging, aiming to reduce its environmental impact and optimising the costs of production, transport and management of packaging waste. Since the project began in 2009, over 2.5 thousand tonnes of materials per year have been spared and the emission of 475 tonnes of CO2 associated with transport has been avoided.

illustration reducing

In 2016, in Poland, Hebe stopped giving plastic bags free of charge at the check-out in order to encourage its customers to use less. In Portugal, campaigns in Pingo Doce and Recheio were created to raise awareness about used cooking oil and at Pingo Doce about the re-use of plastic bags at check-out. In Poland, all the boxes for packaging fruit and vegetables are made of recycled cardboard with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification.

2. PREVENTING DEFORESTATION

Global demand for farming commodities like soya, palm oil, wood products and derivatives and beef is one of the main causes of pressure on forests. Committed to reaching the ambitious target of “Zero Net Deforestation” by 2020, Jerónimo Martins is getting more and more of those commodities from sustainable sources in its Private Brand and perishable products. In 2015, the Group reduced the presence of palm oil in its Private Brand products by more than 18% and the use of soya from countries at risk of deforestation associated to it by over 35%.

illustration deforestation

3. FIGHTING FOOD WASTE

Jerónimo Martins Group strives to fight food waste by engaging with all the links of the supply chain – farmers, manufacturers, stores and the community itself. In Portugal, where one in 14 families have limited access to food, the Group is using “ugly vegetables” (non-standardized) as raw materials, both for the production of soups and ready-to-eat salads and meals. They are available at Pingo Doce’s restaurant and take-away areas and sold in Recheio Cash & Carry at a discount price. In addition, at the end of each day, store employees select products that, despite being perfectly good for consumption, cannot be sold to customers. Those products are picked by charities that, later on, distribute the food among those who need it the most. In 2016, these donations to charities amounted to nearly 10,000 tonnes.

illustration food waste