ICA’s new plastics strategy has a broad approach with several focus areas also for fossil-free and recyclable food packages. In addition to the phase-out of disposable plastic products, all food packages for ICA’s private label products will be recyclable or reusable by 2022, and by 2030 they will consist of recycled or renewable material. The new strategy applies for the entire Group in both Sweden and the Baltic countries.

“We need both to reduce our total use of plastic and take a look at the types of plastic we use,” says Kerstin Lindvall, Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer at ICA Gruppen. “This puts demands on us as a company to be involved in and drive development to find new, innovative ways of using recycled plastic with upheld product safety and to find new, renewable materials.”

As part of this new strategy, ICA is launching a number of novel packaging solutions that will contribute to the reduced use of plastic and greater recycling and use of renewable material. Deposits will be introduced for several of ICA’s own juices, smoothies and juice shots. The ICA Skona product line will change over to packaging made of recycled or fossil-free raw material, and several new sugar cane–based packages will be launched in spring 2019. A large share of plastic trays for fruits and vegetables will be replaced with trays made of paper or recycled plastic. For charcuterie products, ICA is introducing a packaging solution that uses a larger share of paper, which has reduced the amount of plastic in such packaging by 45% compared with previously.

“In addition to sustainable material, another important aspect is that the packages will contribute to longer shelf life for the actual contents and reduce food waste,” says Kerstin Lindvall. “An example of this meat skin packaging, which in addition to using less plastic offers longer shelf life and a more than 40% reduction in food waste at stores. Such packaging has also contributed to more efficient transports, and the trays are more convenient for consumers to recycle.”

For more information
ICA Gruppen press service, Telephone number: +46 10 422 52 52