Retail chain Me Salvé starts using 100% compostable bags
The Me Salvé retail chain is taking a big step in favor of the environment by changing its plastic bags for 100% compostable bags that degrade biologically without generating any toxic waste.
The Puerto Rico-based retailer began to evaluate the possibility of introducing this type of bags in its stores, since it was determined in 2016 that establishments could not offer plastic bags for free, and began to offer, at an additional cost to consumers, bags that were marketed as reusable, said Larry Monge, marketing director of Me Salvé.
“We believed that this type of bag was twice as thick and had greater difficulty in decomposing. According to the information we collected, the plastic bags we know take between 500 and 900 years to decompose and in Puerto Rico they generate about 70,000 tons of plastic waste annually. So, we looked for a real solution,” said Monge.
So, the company is moving toward 100% compostable bags, after seeing that it was the most appropriate solution, he said. That this type of bag disintegrates in three or four months. Once it is discarded, it disappears into the landfill within a year, he said.
Me Salvé has already begun introducing this type of biodegradable bag in 36 of its stores, and the company hopes to have them available across all its 100 locations before year’s end, he said.
