Circular Journey Project

Plastic has become one of the main protagonists of the productive system and current consumption. It’s estimated that there have been 8,300 million tons of virgin plastic in the last year, of which 6,300 are now waste, according to the study ” Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made ‘published in the journal Science. Especially serious is the case of the oceans, where around 10 million tons of plastic end up floating in the sea, according to the study. As of January 2021, the legislation will force companies to recycle more, in an effort to eliminate marine pollution that is causing multiple environmental impacts.

Areas is ahead of this measure and reaffirms its environmental commitment through the Circular Journey project, an initiative developed jointly with the Cluster Foodservice. The Cluster brings together agents from the entire foodservice value chain in the field of Catalonia, forming a space for debate and reflection for companies and implementing strategies between agents who share common challenges.

The two companies approach this project as an opportunity to develop cleaner ways of working and with a deeply sustainable spirit. This initiative will be carried out in the more than 500 restaurants and stores that Areas manages at the state level, in airports, highways and train stations, and its main objective is to improve the negative effects generated by packaging in the field of catering. The project aims to achieve a significant improvement in the impact of the sector on the environment and social environment. Specifically, Areas intends to convert and reduce by half the volume of plastic units.

With the objective of minimizing the carbon footprint, Areas promotes the use of eco-design-based packaging. For practical purposes, with this initiative, it is planned to replace a total of 15 references of high volume of consumption (canes, salad containers, cups, lids, forks, knives, spoons and plastic bags, among others).

With this change, Areas will develop its activity with the guarantee of practically improving 100% of the packaging used in the company, thus advancing to the regulations. Within the framework of the strategic actions to be carried out, on March 21, Areas will participate in the Sustainability Workshop, an encounter to integrate sustainability into business activity in an efficient and profitable manner, organized by the Cluster Foodservice.