Tackling food wastage
Tackling food wastage is a vital ethical and environmental commitment that Carrefour signed up to many years ago. Indeed, food wastage can be avoided by selling, giving away or reusing products at lower prices. Carrefour Belgium has set itself specific targets in relation to its efforts.
Carrefour Belgium takes the lead with numerous initiatives
Thanks to a number of initiatives that Carrefour has introduced for products whose expiry dates are fast approaching, the amount of food that gets wasted fell significantly between 2021 and 2022 – that's a fall from 54.77% to 16.75%. There are a number of reasons for this. Not only has Carrefour raised awareness among its stores: a number of suggestions have also been made for products approaching their expiry dates. These include the partnership that was entered into in 2019 with Too Good to Go, an organisation that sells the day's unsold products at lower prices. As part of this initiative, Carrefour sticks labels with Too Good to Go’s “Look, Smell, Taste. Don't Waste” logo on products nearing their expiry dates. This encourages customers to purchase them, irrespective of whatever date is given on the packaging. Customers can also pick up special themed Too Good to Go baskets, such as Easter or Barbecue Special packages, which also help to tackle food wastage.
Furthermore, Carrefour has introduced “zero wastage” fruit and vegetable baskets. These baskets are made up of fruit and vegetables which might be damaged or very ripe, but which are still perfectly edible. They can be used to make tasty soups or refreshing smoothies.
Carrefour Belgium has also included numerous useful tips from "ambassador" customers which show us how to produce less waste on a day-to-day basis.
Waste recycling
In addition to its commitment to reduce food wastage, Carrefour has also set itself some ambitious waste recycling targets. This is in line with the Carrefour Group's aim of recycling all of its waste by 2025. As of the end of June 2023, 85.45% of the Group's waste in Belgium was recycled – that's up from 70.8% at the end of 2022.
Products that remain unsold despite all the initiatives in place are recycled and transformed. They are transformed into animal flour (486 tonnes) or they are used as raw materials for biomethanisation, a recycling process whereby gas is produced from organic waste. This gas can then be used as an input in the natural gas network or as a fuel for buses, heating or industrial applications. By 2022, for example, the company succeeded in recycling 4100 tonnes of products in animal feed or biomethane recycling channels.
As far as packaging is concerned, the retailer has also made some changes. In particular, it now has 100% recyclable soft packaging for its meat products… which also help to keep them fresh.
Charities
Carrefour Belgium is actively involved in supporting charities through the Bourse aux dons – which facilitates the distribution of products to various local charities, such as the Red Cross, the Marolles food bank, “Les Capucines”, the CPAS (public social service centres) and the Restos du Coeur for the most vulnerable members of society. The recent introduction of initiatives to freeze meat products so they can be given away, in compliance with Belgium’s food safety regulations, is evidence of Carrefour’s long-term commitment in this area.
Carrefour Belgium's figures and results are checked by independent external bodies, and this bolsters the transparency and accountability of its efforts.