Good environmental practices
Committed to the future
Every gesture counts towards achieving a more promising future, and at Missão Continente, we are always looking for new ways to protect the environment. Whether by replacing plastic packaging, encouraging recycling, or offering our customers conditions to make their daily lives more sustainable.
Commitment to Sustainable Plastic
Circularity is a transversal aspect of our action, reflected in how we think about and develop packaging and products and how we manage our operation and organisation.
To this end, over the last few years, we have been transforming our packaging significantly, taking eco-design principles as our starting point. Eliminating the unnecessary use of resources, incorporating recycled elements, and designing the packaging to ensure its recyclability are dimensions worked on daily by our teams, in close partnership with the industry.
In 2019, MC became the 1st Portuguese retailer to join the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, joining a set of entities from different sectors which share a common vision for a circular plastics economy. Since then, MC reports annually on its progress towards the ambitious targets for its plastic packaging. We are deeply committed to ensuring that by 2025 its own-brand packaging is recyclable, reusable or compostable.
This is a journey made up of many, small and large, changes that together currently translate into a 74.7% recyclability rate of our plastic packaging.
Kasa new packaging
We have completely eliminated plastic from the new Kasa bed linen and textiles packaging, switching to paper/cardboard.
New Continente Coffee packaging
100% recyclableBy 2021, the coffee from Continente's exclusive system has a new, more compact and 100% recyclable cardboard packaging, allowing for 26 tonnes saving in plastic per year.
We replaced around 3.5 million coffee packages from Continente's exclusive system, which went from a non-recyclable multi-material bag (plastic and aluminium) to a 100% recyclable cardboard packaging from responsibly managed forests.
In addition to this material change, the packages are more compact, reducing the amount of raw material needed and the carbon footprint in transportation since we can transport more capsules per trip.
Continente Water Bottles with Recycled Plastic
Own brand water bottles are now produced with 25% recycled plastic.
Continente has changed the composition of its own-brand water bottles, from 0.33l to 6l bottles, incorporating 25% recycled plastic in each one, which will result in the elimination of 400 tonnes of virgin plastic per year.
This is yet another initiative of the Strategy for the Responsible Use of Plastics. The brand proposes, among other commitments, to increase the incorporation of secondary (recycled) raw materials in new products and thus avoid producing more plastic.
In addition to reducing the consumption of virgin raw materials, it contributes to a genuinely circular economy. The brand incorporates this plastic in a new bottle for each recycled bottle of Continente water at the end of its life.
Responsible Plastic: Out of the Box
'Fora da Caixa'' ('Out of the Box') is the initiative's name on Continente's Responsible Plastic website that challenges the Portuguese to suggest improvements to the packaging of Continente's own-brand products.
This initiative, launched with the support and participation of Sociedade Ponto Verde, was created to raise awareness and generate engagement with Continente's customers.
By 2025, all our own-brand packaging will be 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable. But we want to go further: all ideas that can somehow improve Continente's packaging or the way we display a product in the store are welcome, and that's 'Fora da Caixa' and can be shared on the Responsible Plastic platform.
Packaging deposit systems
The planet wins!
In 2021, we participated in five pilot projects of incentive systems for the deposit of beverage packaging, implementing this service in 25 Continente stores, from north to south of the country, and collaborating with various entities - such as APED, APIAM-Probeb, and the municipalities of Cascais and Vila Real.
The performance in our stores was quite relevant, showing an above-average activity in all initiatives, with the deposit of over 5 million packages, mostly PET plastic, but also metal and glass, in the 25 Reverse Vending Machines installed in our stores.
These pilots allowed us to understand the mechanisms of a packaging deposit system and strengthen our knowledge to prepare a future efficient deposit system in over 300 Continente stores.
of packaging collected in 25 equipments
of packaging collected in two years of pilot projects
Plug&Charge
We are even more electric!In 2020, Continente inaugurated the first Plug&Charge hubs in the country.
This simple and innovative service allows customers to charge electric vehicles with up to 200 km of autonomy in 1 hour while shopping in the store.
This project aims to improve consumption efficiency and environmental sustainability and reduce the carbon footprint, a commitment made when signing the Paris Agreement.
charging stations nationwide
km provided by the network
trips from Oporto to Paris
Collection of cork stoppers
Since 2008, the partnership between Missão Continente, Quercus and Corticeira Amorim has given cork a second life through the Green Cork project.
Separating cork stoppers at home allows this material to be recycled and reused in other applications, thus reducing the amount of waste and guaranteeing the storage of carbon dioxide in cork for a more extended time.
With collection points in all of the country's stores, Continente is the biggest partner in gathering cork stoppers, with over 91% of the total collected annually..
Thus, the destination of the cork stoppers is no longer undifferentiated waste and is now a Continente store.
This way, Missão Continente wants to be part of building a better world for everyone, promoting sustainable development and environmental preservation.
The collection of cork stoppers in Continente stores reverts to planting native trees.
There is also an involvement of schools and IPSS in collecting cork stoppers during the school year, promoting sustainable development and environmental preservation among children. The most committed to delivering the highest number of cork stoppers to a Continente store receive prizes!
Our environmental performance
We remain determined to protect the environment, minimise the negative environmental impacts of our activities, promote good practices both internally and in the community, and improve our environmental performance.
6,800 tonnes of CO2 emissions avoided Increase to 83.6% waste recovery rate Sustainability certifications increase in own-brand items with sustainability certifications
Waste collection for recycling
The planet is our common home, and it's up to all of us to do our part to preserve it. At Continente stores, we not only promote the recycling of thousands of tonnes of waste every year, but we also involve customers in this process, encouraging responsible behaviours. In this way, we remain firm in our environmental performance of excellence.
In 2021, the following were collected for recycling:
Waste delivered by customers
- 121 tonnes of used cooking oil
- 21 tonnes of old car batteries
- 576 tonnes of used clothes
- 18 tonnes of used batteries
- 25,5 tonnes of cork stoppers
Own waste from stores
- 39.885 tonnes of cardboard
- 2.640 tonnes of plastic
- 7 tonnes of light bulbs
- 7,4 tonnes of hangers
- 15 tonnes of employees' uniforms
