Waste & Recycling

Optimised packaging

In 2019, Migros made environmental improvements to the packaging of 54 products. Since 2013, a total of 5'051 t of packaging material has been saved or made more environmentally friendly. Migros is thus a significant step closer to its target of ecologically improving more than 6'000 t of packaging material by the end of 2020.

Since 2019, Migros syrup bottles have been made of 100% recycled PET. This means that the materials loop for PET bottles has now been closed for the first time in Switzerland. With this measure, Migros saves more than 222 t of new material per year.

The Mibelle Group received the Swiss Packaging Award in 2019 for its pioneering work in producing a new PE bottle exclusively from recycled material. Migros has been taking back and recycling household bottles since 2013. So far, the recycled PE has been used primarily in the construction of building pipes and cable sheathing. 

Since 2019, Cooperative Retailing has offered various types of organic fruits and vegetables without packaging, including organic grapes, nectarines and red peppers, which are now sold loose. This saves 16.4 t of plastic per year.

Since 2019, LeShop has also been selling fruit and vegetable baskets that are delivered without plastic. The packaging of apples and pears has also been improved and is now made of cardboard rather than plastic. Thanks to this measure, LeShop is able to save 4.8 t of plastic per year. 

Since the reporting year, Tegut… has become one of the first supermarket chains in Germany to test the sale of 144 types of unpackaged organic food. In a total of four branches, customers are able to bring their own containers to fill up with products such as pasta, nuts and different varieties of muesli.

In 2019, the retail sector decided to extend the charge for plastic bags to all formats. As in the supermarkets, free plastic bags are no longer provided in the Migros specialist markets SportXX, melectronics, Do It + Garden and micasa, the retailers Ex Libris and Digitec Galaxus, or the Migros restaurants and take-aways.

Enhanced recycling system in branches

In the reporting year, the recycling walls in about 700 branches were enhanced with a new collection bin for aluminium coffee capsules. Migros also introduced recyclable aluminium coffee capsules for its Nespresso-compatible Café Royal products. Since the beginning of this year, Nespresso and Migros have been working together to increase the recycling rate of aluminium capsules in Switzerland from the current figure of 58% to 75%.

In 2019, customers returned 15'350 t of recyclable material to Migros branches, where it was collected and recycled by Migros. The approximately 265 million PET drinks bottles accounted for the largest proportion of customer returns (8'586 t). The granules from the recycled bottles are used to make new drinks bottles, among other things.

Waste avoidance

Cooperative Retailing strives to keep waste from food sales as low as possible. In 2019, Migros stepped up its collaboration with "Too Good To Go" and sold its leftover food in around 70 of its branches, restaurants and take-aways via the free app. This complements its existing measures to avoid food waste, which include partnerships with social organisations such as Tischlein deck dich, Partage and Schweizer Tafel.

In 2019, 98.6% of food in the branches, restaurants and take-aways was sold at a reduced price or donated. 1.36% was used as animal feed, in fermentation or as compost; only 0.04% was incinerated as waste.

Since 2019, customers at most Migros branches have been able to have products bought at the staffed cheese and meat counters packed in their own containers. The price label is attached directly to the container, so no additional packaging is necessary.

In 2019, JOWA reduced the weight of the boxes in which frozen bread and baked goods are transported. Compared with the old packaging, this saves 201 t of packaging material per year. Furthermore, the boxes are now made of 100% recycled material.