Designing a package is much more than just creating something that catches the eye on the shelf. It is safe to say that when it comes to products, the outside also matters – especially for food products, as it is the first layer to ensure freshness and food safety, therefore playing a significant role in longer shelf lives and in fighting food waste.
454
ecodesign packaging
projects implemented in 2024
50,351
TONNES OF PACKAGING MATERIALS
(plastic, cardboard, aluminium and other) avoided between 2011 and 2024
25.7%
private brand packaging
changed since 2011
A simple, small change in any of the elements that compose a package can represent a significant reduction of the natural resources used to produce it. At the same time, using fewer materials can result in lighter packaging – the smaller a package is, the less carbon emissions are associated with its distribution.
To reduce the environmental impact of product packaging and optimise its production, transport and waste management costs, we have been implementing our own ecodesign project for over a decade. Since its launch in 2011, we have changed the packaging of more than 2,300 Private Brand products, which avoided the use of more than 50,000 tonnes of plastic, paper, cardboard and other packaging materials.
Due to increased transport efficiency, we calculate that the ecodesign packaging project also helped avoid the emission of 6,882 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Thanks to a reduction mainly in the amount of plastic and paper packaging used in our Private Brand products, in 2024 we also decreased our total material consumption by 2.7%. Around 90% of the virgin fibres used in our Private Brand products and packaging had sustainability certification (FSC, PEFC or SFI), in line with our goal of ensuring the certification of 100% Private Brand products and packaging by 2030.
Our food distribution chains share a system of reusable boxes to pack and transport mostly perishables between central kitchens, distribution centres and stores. With this project we have avoided the use of over 42,000 tonnes of disposable packaging.
Explore at our Annual Report website a comprehensive breakdown of our sustainability performance, insights, and forward-looking strategy, in line with the ESRS framework.
CLOSING THE LOOP AT BIEDRONKA
Through the Closed Loop project, used secondary packaging boxes are collected at Biedronka stores. They are then recycled and transformed into raw material for the production of new cardboard boxes, used to display Private Brand products in the Company’s stores. With this circular economy project, in 2024 we collected 8,322 tonnes of cardboard and transformed it into more than 31.6 million new boxes.
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