Hi FerreroRocher, thank you for your inquiry. Migros always endeavors to use the packaging with the best environmental balance for all products. This takes into account the production of the packaging right through to disposal.

Plastic packaging often performs better than packaging made from alternative materials. The widespread impression that plastic packaging is generally harmful to the environment and paper packaging is generally environmentally friendly is misleading. For example: although a kilo of paper is more environmentally friendly than a kilo of plastic, much more paper is usually needed to package a product.

Another example: By reducing the film thickness of the potato sack, 10 percent, or 20 tons of material, can be saved each year. Food waste can also be prevented by using plastic packaging. Migros therefore checks which packaging has the best eco-balance along the entire value chain for each product. This also includes disposal: For products that could potentially be littered, it may make sense to use biodegradable packaging.

Plastic packaging also performs important functions:

- Protect the product (longer shelf life and hygiene, less food waste).
- Provide information (origin, ingredients, price, best-before date, etc.).
- be easy to transport and stack (so that we need as few trucks as possible for transportation).

Migros has over ten thousand different products in its range, which have to be packaged according to special criteria. Fresh milk, for example, has to be packaged differently to UHT milk. Migros endeavors to use a minimum of different types of packaging and avoids unnecessary material wherever possible. It does this not only for ecological but also for economic reasons. Unfortunately, there is no universal material that meets all these and other requirements. In the plastics sector, for example, polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE) or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are used, depending on the application. For ecological reasons, Migros does not use polyvinyl chloride (PVC) wherever possible.

We hope this information is helpful for you. Best regards, Lea

The sustainability of paper and cardboard is generally overestimated (gray energy, water consumption, chemicals, deforestation, higher transport weight, etc.). After I got the plastic collection bags from Migros, I diligently recycle every piece of plastic packaging 🙂

That’s a really thoughtful point! Sustainability is definitely more complex than it seems on the surface. Every material has trade-offs, and it’s great that you’re actively recycling plastics—every bit helps when done mindfully. 😊

In the long run, sustainable paper packaging tends to have a smaller environmental footprint than plastic—especially when it comes to end-of-life impact.