Packaging, plastic bags, bread bags, sustainability, cradle to cradle, waste, garbage - | General | Forum

Packaging, plastic bags, bread bags, sustainability, cradle to cradle, waste, garbage -

Verpackung, Plastiktüten, Brotbeutel, Nachhaltigkeit, Cradle to Cradle, Abfall, Müll -

Guest

As a regular customer in your stores, I have long noticed a few things that I can't explain to myself. (Unfortunately, things are no better with the competition)

1- Why are almost all organic products packaged in plastic? To perhaps take the wording to the extreme: Why is the "bad" apple well packaged (namely not at all) - and the "good" apple badly packaged (all in plastic)? - I could be wrong, but aren't the customers who buy organic produce usually also the ones who are concerned about waste?

2-Why aren't the bags in the fruit & veg section also made of paper? Wouldn't it be nice to come home, take the 5 apples out of the recycling bag and put the bag back in the waste paper? Shouldn't we focus on the fact that plastic packaging should only be used where it is essential? Unprocessed vegetables are certainly not one of them.

3- Why are the bread bags for bread rolls made of perforated plastic? The paradox is that bread is still sold in paper bags. Why is plastic better for bread rolls and paper for bread? Why there is an (expensive) plastic viewing window in the paper bread bags, even though they can be seen from the front, has never been clear to me either?

4-I'm interested to know how much the difference in CHF would be for the entire Migros operations for recycled paper bags (consistently produced in Switzerland) compared to plastic bags in the vegetables, fruit and bread department per year? I'm sure you've had a comparison made at some point?

5-To what extent are product managers thinking about a "cradle to cradle" solution/line? For example, with paper bags in the previous departments, you would produce practically no more waste, except for waste paper that can be reused. And how much would sales in these departments increase if you were the first wholesaler to implement and market such a concept?

6-When will there finally be a large retailer that takes the needs of its customers for "sustainable products" in the areas of production/storage, transport and packaging seriously and implements them consistently and recognizably for everyone?

7-Why are decision-makers making such changes that obviously cannot be explained by logical common sense? After all, only sustainable, comprehensible and holistic solutions will be profitable in the long term.

These questions and comments are just a fraction of the thoughts that go through my head as a customer when I walk through your branches. I can't imagine how many customers there are in Switzerland who are so involved in their everyday lives and never have the time or see the importance of contacting companies as consumers when something is not quite clear to them.

Of course, I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

I therefore look forward to your detailed reply and remain with my best wishes

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All replies (3)

ninina_2

I have already asked myself these questions. I'm curious to see if anyone will comment on this...

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Frederica

Hello cgar,

I have an answer for the first two points. Point three is regulated in laws and regulations. The rest is specific to Migros, so I can't answer it.

... Organic is packaged in such a way that the buyer actually knows that it is organic. If organic fruit or vegetables are sold individually, they are labeled. If the organic products were not labeled, they could be mixed indiscriminately with products from conventional cultivation.
Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to distinguish an organic apple from a conventional one.
-o-
The bags in the fruit and vegetable departments are transparent so that the products can be seen at the checkout. There are products, such as kohlrabi, which are charged at unit price, do not need a label and are counted at the checkout. A Schgarnùz (paper bag) would have to be checked every time.
-o-
You can find more information in the regulation on the labeling and advertising of food or in the product-specific regulations of the food legislation.

Greetings Istanbul

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Guest

Hello Istanbul, thank you for your reply.

As you can imagine, I have already given this a lot of thought. As I am a buyer by profession (hotel industry), I can usually come up with the economic and legal arguments myself

I'm more interested in critically scrutinizing our day-to-day practices and finding out from one of the biggest retailers why they have opted for certain solutions.
Unfortunately, there are too many people who are satisfied with the fact that it's just the law, more efficient, more practical or cheaper etc. (or simply, as we in Switzerland like to say, "it's just the way it is").

However, I think that the consequences of our actions have a much greater effect than we can even imagine with our short shopping trips.
We have enough examples every day.

To your answers:
The problem with recognizability is a given with fresh produce either way. Who says that the apples weren't mixed before packing? It's the same with meat / fish in the counter (it's not just the best before date that is a problem of traceability)

So can the solution really be to pack everything in TONS of plastic? Nature has packed everything (almost) perfectly and we humans have to quickly wrap it up in non-rotting material BEFORE WE EAT IT - as I said, usually for 1 hour - until you get home and end up in the fruit bowl?

I don't want to come across as some ECO guy with an incense stick mentality... I simply ask myself: is this really necessary?

The other question is: can you blame the consumer for making it as easy as possible for themselves? I.e. if there are plastic bags hanging around, or if organic apples are only available in plastic, to simply buy them?

Isn't it rather the entrepreneurs who are called upon (and highly paid!) to solve these problems before they even arise? That's why there are so many well-educated and highly paid people in the management / board of directors. To think about such consequences... and not just look at the small plastic bags individually...

To put it another way: If Migros saves X amount with plastic bags compared to paper bags, but "distributes" a mountain of plastic bags every year. How can you compare the two? Who makes this decision with a clear conscience? - Or keeps them?

In my opinion, we have a SYSTEM PROBLEM. In our "world", unfortunately, "bad" things are not always punished. That the "invisible hand of the market" will take care of things is, according to current knowledge, not true in the slightest...

Efficiency, sustainability and abundance are clearly the enemies of profit!

We have to realize that a company can never act ethically as long as it has to grow and generate profit (cooperative or not)

Enough now, I'm getting bogged down here.

The second answer can also be answered with the same argument. Rarely does a cashier look closely at the plastic bag of rolls when I tell her that there are 4 croissants and 2 poppy seed rolls...
I also don't understand what the 2 seconds of effort is all about?
Credit card payers hold up the till many times longer than checking a paper bag... (and the economic JOKE of the whole thing is that the stores are still prepared to pay commission for this - plus infrastructure... HAHAHA...)

Honestly (almost) between us... isn't it bad that so often OUR environment has to be used for (comparatively) minimal savings.

It is also your air, your sea, your water - our NATURE.

Let's start small, help me... write comments, show that you care and that it is IMPORTANT...

...by the way, it's funny that nobody from Migros has replied yet...

...It would be the GREATEST thing if we could achieve this and Migros / Coop would support it... WOW - Let me dream some more....

"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them." - Walt Disney

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