Decathlon has announced that it will stop using all single-use plastic and paper bags in all its Spanish stores on July 3, coinciding the 31-day global Plastic Free EcoChallenge next month. The measure is intended to improve the banner's image while removing 338,000 kilos of plastic every year in order to reduce its CO2 emissions by 45 percent.
Decathlon España, which had already started using only recycled plastics in its bags four years ago, wants to encourage consumers to take their own bags to its stores. Alternatively, they will be able to use the cartons from its store pallets or to buy a bag for one euro that is made with recycled textile waste from the production of Decathlon's own apparel items. The proceeds will go to various environmental programs.
Similar initiatives are being taken in other countries. In France, Decathlon has just begun to stop selling plastic bottles. These and other initiatives are being taken by members of the Decathlon group all over the world and at all the stages of the supply chain, starting with product development, as part of a corporate mission called OneBlueTeam. It is well illustrated in the “Our Planet” section of a dedicated website.
