An in-store protest about plastic has prompted Scally's SuperValu to introduce a whole new range of compostable products.
AN in-store protest about plastic has prompted Scally’s SuperValu to introduce a whole new range of compostable products.
Eoghan Scally told The Southern Star there was a protest in the store on Saturday, February 3rd, when customers expressed their concerns about the excessive use of packaging by leaving it behind after checking out at the cash registers.
Eoghan said: ‘We welcomed the protest because the topic of plastic and packaging is of worldwide concern.
‘It gave us the encouragement to look at the type of packaging we are using in our fruit and veg department, our coffee cups, and the disposable cutlery and food containers at our hot food counter.’
In the few short weeks since the demonstration, the company lost no time in securing fully compostable BioBags for their fruit and veg department from Zeus Packaging, which is based in Dublin.
As part of the company’s own ‘Make The Change’ response to the world’s waste crisis, Scally’s has, in addition, sourced 100% compostable coffee cups for use at its coffee machine, and is now offering fully compostable cutlery in its food department.
Eoghan said that they are even looking into sourcing compostable containers for the hot food served in the supermarket.
A lot of the plastic that Scally’s had been using was, in fact, fully recyclable, but the facilities for recycling that type of plastic were not located in Ireland.
Eoghan said that was another factor in encouraging them to go one step further and source the new compostable products.
‘The response from the customers has been absolutely phenomenal,’ said Eoghan, who confirmed that within a three-day period its Facebook announcement of its new compostable products reached almost 85,000 people, had 1,000 likes, and was shared globally more than 500 times.
‘Customers are delighted that the BioBags can be added to the food waste bin,’ said Eoghan, who also pointed out that the new bags are strong, elastic and breathable, and help to keep fruit and vegetables fresher for longer.
‘At Scally’s,’ he added, ‘we not only listen to what our customers want, we are also committed to making positive changes to preserve and the protect the environment.’
