The Mercadona’s membership in SDRetalhistas, an associate of SDR Portugal, strengthens the size and ambition of this non-profit association, which aims to create and manage the future Deposit Refund System (DRS) for non-reusable beverage packaging. It envisions creating more than 1,500 direct and indirect jobs nationwide and making an investment exceeding 100 million euros.
Lisbon, May 24, 2022 – Mercadona Portugal has signed a protocol for joining SDRetalhistas, an associate of SDR Portugal, SDRetalhistas is a candidate for the license or concession to manage the future Deposit Refund System (DRS) for non-reusable beverage packaging to be established in Portugal – as defined in European legislation and under guidelines to be set by the Portuguese government. The goal is to ensure maximum efficiency in directing these containers for recycling, making the best use of these resources, and preventing their incineration or landfilling after consumption.
Comprising the Circular Drinks Association and SDRetalhistas, SDR Portugal brings together, for the first time, industry and retail in a circular economy system aimed at waste valorisation, highlighting the priority given to this issue. Aligned with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), the shareholders of SDR Portugal aim to implement an efficient and effective system that guarantees the environmental responsibility advocated by all these companies. This system should be convenient for consumers – in terms of availability, speed, simplicity, accessibility, and reliability – promote transparency, and contribute to meeting the targets to which the country is obligated for plastic beverage packaging:
• Return rate of 77% by 2025 and above 90% from 2029 onwards;
• Incorporation rate of recycled material in beverage bottle production (known as “rPET”) of 25% by 2025 and above 30% from 2030 onwards).
With this protocol, Mercadona joins the SDRetalhistas Association, whose members include the Auchan, Intermarché, Lidl, Pingo Doce, and SonaeMC brands. SDR Portugal now includes a significant part of the retail brands in Portugal. SDR Portugal also includes Coca-Cola, Central de Cervejas, Sumol+Compal, Super Bock Group, and Unilever, represented by the Circular Drinks Association.
Leonardo Mathias, President of SDR Portugal, emphasizes that
“Mercadona’s membership in the SDRetalhistas Association, and consequently in the SDR Portugal consortium, is another sign of the robustness of the solution we present. This solution brings together 70% of the beverage industry and 80% of retail in Portugal in a common mission to manage and organize the collection, transportation, counting, sorting, and recycling to not only prevent resource wastage but also to prevent incineration or landfilling of waste after consumption. With all of this, we aim to fulfil what we consider to be a national mission: achieving higher recycling rates that allow us to meet the country’s committed goals and improve the environment.”
Plácido Albuquerque, Director of Circular Economy at Mercadona Portugal highlights that
“We consider Mercadona’s membership in SDRetalhistas and the SDR Portugal consortium to be very important in order for us to work together with other distributor packagers and producer packagers in the development of the future beverage packaging deposit system within the scope of extended producer responsibility. This partnership reinforces the commitment of packagers to seek solutions aligned with the need to increase recycling rates and ensure the circularity of beverage packaging materials in compliance with national targets”.
SDR Portugal
The SDR Portugal consists of the companies in the beverage industry and retailers operating in Portugal, like Coca-Cola, Central de Cervejas, Sumol+Compal, Super Bock Group, and Unilever (comprising the Circular Drinks Association), as well as the brands Auchan, Intermarché, Lidl, Pingo Doce, and SonaeMC (forming SDRetalhistas Association). The industry and retail sectors are coming together with the mission to fulfil what they believe is a national imperative: increasing the number of collected and recycled packaging while reducing their environmental impact and contributing to Portugal’s commitment to meeting its targets. At the same time, they aim to create conditions to stimulate technological innovation and the competitiveness of Portuguese companies, boosting the national economy.
With the implementation of the Deposit Refund System, SDR Portugal anticipates an investment exceeding 100 million euros, of which 70 million should be allocated within the first two years (the minimum implementation period of the system following the issuance of the license / concession) and the creation of more than 1,500 direct and indirect jobs. Nationwide, the proposed system envisions the deployment of 3,600 return machines, retrieval equipment with integrated technology that accepts used packaging. In addition to installation on large retail surfaces (2,600). Out of the universe of 90,000 points in traditional commerce and the HORECA channel, the proposed system aims to ensure the collection of packaging from more than one-third of the total.
Comprising major Packagers (Producers and Distributors) with national coverage, SDR aims to simultaneously manage an efficient system, thanks to the achieved economies of scale. It will reduce the complexity of the registration system for the covered packaging, simplifying operations for packagers and retailers with more transparent costs and operations. This will also lead to a reduction in regulatory costs for the government with equity in the applied fees. This new system will provide greater clarity for consumers, contribute to higher recycling rates to meet European targets, and also help reduce littering by up to 40% and marine litter by up to 90%.