New Swedish convenience store PBX will test new sustainability strategies in-store, in an effort to become the world’s most sustainable convenience store.
PBX, created by Reitan Convenience Sweden, has been described as a ‘living lab’ where Reitan can test new concepts and strategies in a real-life environment.
Mariette Kristenson, CEO Reitan Convenience in Sweden, said sustainability must be a necessity for companies.
“This is one of our biggest investments ever and it is something that must be done if we are to be able to run a long-term profitable business. It is with great humility that we began this journey with the ambitious goal of creating the world’s most sustainable convenience store.”
The Stockholm store currently does not stock cigarettes, has a 100-gram limit on sweets, and is now trialing a new on-the-go drinks solution, allowing customers to bring their own containers to fill with Coca-Cola beverages, to reduce waste.
The concept from Coca-Cola allows consumers to purchase a GLACIAL beverage container or bring their own into the store and choose to fill from over 60 different flavoured beverages, most of which are not available packaged.
Lisa Wahlström, Sustainability Director, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, said that the company’s packaging accounts for a majority of its emissions.
“We therefore need to find innovative solutions so that consumers can continue to enjoy our drinks with the same good quality and taste, while at the same time reducing the amount of packaging. We see great opportunities with refillable solutions and are very happy to be able to test our new concept together with GLACIAL at PBX.”
The containers are supplied by sustainable bottle provider GLACIAL, which, along with Coca-Cola, have a partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature.
“Coca-Cola is the largest partner in the world when it comes to WWF’s work to protect the world’s freshwater resources and GLACIAL has a combined partnership and licensing agreement with WWF where they donate money for the benefit of the world’s oceans,” said Wahlström.