To significantly reduce the amount of plastic, two types of minced meat under the Rimi Smart brand will now be packaged in plastic bags in Rimi stores. Eliminating traditional plastic boxes will save up to 13,460 kg of plastic and 1,260 kg of paper per year, reducing the total amount of plastic used by 82%, the company says. Rimi's goal is to have all packaging for products sold under the brand removed by 2025. network, made from recyclable plastic. "The change in packaging will not affect the quality of Rimi Smart minced meat, since the expiration date will remain the same, and the transparent material will still allow customers to visually evaluate the product before purchasing. The packaging is designed to be easy to use and take up significantly less space in the trash container Since it is much lighter than the previous one, this will also reduce CO2 emissions during transportation,” commented Inga Bite, head of public relations at Rimi Latvia. “By eliminating free plastic bags we use 30 tonnes less plastic a year, and the new mince packaging will save almost a further 14 tonnes. Last year CO2 emissions fell by 7% compared to 2022 and food waste was reduced by 20%,” Bite noted. The retail chain is also offering customers the option to skip printing receipts at self-service checkouts and instead receive them digitally via the My Rimi app, which means a reduction in waste by 17 tonnes. This year, the company also introduced the ability not to print coupons for deposit containers, but to receive money for them in the mobile application. This will save another 800 kg of paper. In the future, Rimi plans to offer more environmentally friendly packaging not only for products under the Rimi Smart brand, but also for products under the I Love Eco, Rimi Greatlife, Rimi FreeFrom, Rimi Planet, Rimi Express and ICA brands.
