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Rewe and Lidl supermarket chains want to offer fewer disposable plastic items in the future. Rewe announced that it would remove all plastic straws from its product line by the end of the year. Affected are the 6,000 Rewe markets and the Penny and Toom girls. Plastic straws are a typical disposable product, said a spokesman for Rewe. On average, they would only be used for 20 minutes before ending up in the trash. They have also been among the most often beached items on the beaches around the world. The Rewe Group currently sells more than 42 million disposable plastic straws a year. From 2019, the Group will propose alternatives in paper, wheatgrbad or stainless steel.
Lidl and his daughter Kaufland not only want until the end of 2019
Plastic straws, but all disposable plastic items such as cups, plates,
Remove the cutlery and cotton swabs from the badortment. Instead, the group wants to offer products made of recyclable materials. The conversion takes place after the sale of the quantities already purchased, the company said. The supermarket chain is also striving to dispense with plastic cutlery and straws for drinks and takeaways. Lidl said the company wants to reduce its plastic consumption by 20% by 2025. The company had already announced in March. The packaging of individual products has since been optimized. In addition, Lidl "for many years" a large number of unpackaged fruits and vegetables and have already abolished the standard plastic bag, which saves 3,500 tons of plastic per year.
Companies prevail over the European Commission
Supermarket chains have put in place legal initiatives ahead of their initiatives. At the end of May, the European Commission presented its strategy against plastic waste in the oceans and announced the ban on drinking straws and disposable crockery. The relevant EU directive still has to be adopted by the European Parliament and the European Council. The Commission wants to present its results before the European elections of May 2019.
In Germany, the consumption of plastic increases, despite the recycling of waste and the deposit of bottles. From 1994 to today, the amount of plastic waste has almost doubled, in 2015 it was just under six million tonnes. Two-thirds are burned, the rest is recycled, stored or exported abroad. In addition to the high environmental impact and microplastics, there is a problem: plastic waste can decompose into the smallest particles that, in turn, enter the water and living organisms. Researchers at the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) of Bremerhaven recently discovered a record concentration of microplastics in the Arctic sea ice. The consequences of plastic particles for marine animals and humans are barely examined, however, there is evidence that they can lead to inflammatory reactions and behavioral changes.
Environmentalists do not go far enough with the measures of the supermarket chain. According to Environment Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD), the consumption of disposable products should be comprehensively contained, said a spokesman for the ministry, "because it is primarily to attack to a strong disposable mentality ".
Greenpeace expert, Manfred Santen, said it was good that large food chains do more to prevent plastic waste from growing. The problem of plastic is too important to simply "recycle" or be content with simple solutions. "All supermarkets, including those in Rewe or Penny, have tons of packaging and disposable plastic products," says Santen. To contain these quantities, companies should set clear recycling targets.
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