Residents in northern Limpopo are becoming eco-warriors thanks to a new campaign which aims to see environmental waste reduced and much-needed jobs created at the same time.

Research shows that eight million tonnes of plastic leak into the ocean every year and with a business as usual scenario, according to research done by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, by 2050 there could be more plastics than fish in the ocean by weight.

Pick n Pay will significantly reduce the impact of single-use plastic and packaging by 2025. Since 2018, the retailer has successfully implemented a number of initiatives to reduce packaging and single-use plastic at its stores and throughout its supply chain.

Motorists and the residents of Mogwase in North West are set to reap all the yummy goodness of 24-hour forecourt convenience at the brand-new Engen Mankwe Convenience Centre, which officially opened on 24 January 2020.

After successful trials at the Woolworths Head Office and Garden Centre store, Woolworths has rolled out its new coffee cup recycling initiative to all Western Cape stores with cafés, coffee carts or pods. When it comes to recycling, the disposal of coffee cups presents the challenges of mixed materials and the potential of food waste contamination.

In line with the Shoprite Group’s commitment to ensure that 100% of its plastic packaging is reusable and/or recyclable by 2025, it is now using the 4 000 tons of plastic returned annually to its distribution centres to produce its 100% recycled and recyclable plastic shopping bags.

Woolworths’ new speciality tomato range is now packaged in a kraft box base which saves 77* tons of plastic and a widely recyclable clarified polypropylene lid that will save 128* tonnes of currently not recycled thermoformed PET from going to landfills. Working closely with suppliers and packaging manufacturers it has been a four year journey to launch packaging that ticks all the boxes in terms of both sustainability and quality packaging that protects.

Leading food retailers in South Africa have indicated a keen interest in committing to implementing initiatives to reduce food waste in their stores in line with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal to halve global food waste by 2030.

Pick n Pay is piloting a new packaging-free zone. The ‘pick and weigh’ shopping experience will provide customers with the opportunity to purchase a wide range of quality products without any product packaging.

Food Lover’s Market, South Africa’s leading fresh produce retailer, today confirmed its continued commitment to a plastic-free shopping experience with the announcement that it has banned plastic bags in all national corporate stores as of 01 December 2019 and will only be offering paper bags, boxes and Food Lover’s Market canvas bags. This is after the successful implementation of paper straws in 2018 and the positive response to the implementation of a ban on plastic bags in Western Cape stores during 2019.

This week, Checkers opened a new flagship store - this time in the upmarket suburb of Constantia. This is no store refresh, either - it’s been built brand new from the ground up for the Constantia Emporium shopping centre.

Amazon on Monday said it plans to open its first new brand of grocery store in California next year, as it amps up its ambitious push to become a bigger name in food.