For us at the REWE Group, promoting a circular economy is a meaningful approach towards conserving resources, protecting the environment and combating climate change. Our Guidelines on the Circular Economy provide our employees and suppliers with a structure for continually evaluating and refining the efficient use of raw materials and the design of products and processes, whilst also closing the loop for more and more materials.
In a linear economy, raw materials that have been used for the manufacture of a product and are no longer needed are not recycled. Instead, they are simply thrown away, and because they are usually incinerated, they cannot be reused. The global demand for resources to manufacture new products has increased dramatically in the past 50 years, and the volume of man-made materials is also growing. This rapid rise in the consumption of resources as well as an increase in the volume of waste and associated emissions into the water, air and soil have negatively impacted both the environment and the climate.
At the REWE Group, we want to address these challenges in our own value chains and work with our suppliers to develop measures for reducing the consumption of resources and, where possible, gradually recycle products and raw materials at the end of their useful life.
At the REWE Group, it is our goal to use the circular economy to reduce the consumption of resources within our product value chains to make a positive contribution towards protecting the environment and combating climate change. Our circular economy strategy is based on three principles: reduce, reuse, recycle. By applying these principles throughout the life cycle of our products, we aim to avoid waste and ensure that resources are used as long and as thoroughly as possible.
At the REWE Group, we are constantly looking at potential ways to further develop the circular economy within our group. This involves evaluating the use of resources and the generation of waste in our key supply chains so that we can develop further strategic measures and goals. Also with regard to our internal material flows, our company is developing ways to recycle reusable materials throughout the value chain and reduce the demand for primary resources.
Our private-label product ranges will focus on products that embrace the principles of reduce, reuse, recycle to make a positive contribution to creating a circular economy. These principles will also be integrated more closely into our purchasing processes and existing environmental programmes.
