Montreal, February 2, 2006 – Two weeks after it was launched throughout grocery stores in Quebec, Metro's reusable grocery bag is a hit with consumers. Up to now, over 600,000 bags have been sold in Metro, Metro Plus and Super C stores, reducing in a spectacular way the use of conventional plastic bags.
“We're very pleased to see how well our customers have responded to our plea to reduce the number of plastic bags used in grocery stores and that ultimately end up in the environment”, mentioned Serge Boulanger, Vice-President, Marketing at Metro. “Over the next few weeks, we'll make sure that customers are indeed using the bag to go grocery shopping or for any other type of shopping”, adds Mr. Boulanger.
Developed in partnership with Boissons Gazeuses Environnement (BGE) and RECYC-QUÉBEC, the bag, which is made of 100% recycled plastic, is machine washable. It is big enough to replace 2 to 3 conventional grocery bags and can be used to return “Québec Refund” returnable containers to authorized retail outlets.
We would like to remind consumers that…*
o A plastic bag has a life expectancy of about 20 minutes;
o Each Quebecer uses about 350 plastic bags per year;
o In Québec alone, between 1.4 and 2.7 billion bags are circulated on a yearly basis;
o One plastic bag will take nearly 400 years to decompose.
METRO INC.
With annualized sales approaching $11 billion and more than 65,000
employees, METRO INC. is a leader in the food and pharmaceutical
sectors in Quebec and in Ontario where it operates a network of
close to 600 food stores under the banners Metro, Metro Plus, Super
C, A&P, Dominion, Loeb and Food Basics, as well as more than
250 pharmacies under the banners Brunet, Clini Plus, The Pharmacy
and Drug Basics.
Boissons Gazeuses Environnement (BGE)
“Boissons Gazeuses Environnement (BGE)” is a non-profit
organization responsible for managing the Quebec consignment system
of non-refillable soft drink containers in accordance with an
agreement signed with the Minister of Environment and the
“Association des embouteilleurs de boissons gazeuses du Québec”
(AEBGQ). The agreement establishes objectives, among others, for
the recovery of soft-drinks containers.
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Information:
Marie-Claude Bacon
Director, Corporate Affairs
METRO INC.
(514) 643-1086
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