La Provençale hosts Clc networking event, addresses retail packaging
On Wednesday 8 February 2023, the Confédération Luxembourgeoise du Commerce (the Luxembourg trade confederation, clc) held its annual networking event at La Provençale in Leudelange.
Around 150 members attended the event which was organised in collaboration with the Luxembourg Food and Distribution Federation (FLAD) and was conducted in Luxembourgish with simultaneous translation into French. The topic of the evening was “The ecological transition in mass distribution: the challenges of a winning recipe”.
The welcome was given by Carole Muller, clc President, and Georges Eischen, Managing Partner at La Provençale and FLAD President.
Carole Muller introduced the topic of the evening and stressed the importance of investing in our future and that such decisions need to be taken at a European level.
Georges Eischen addressed the issue of packaging from an environmental perspective, stressing the importance of all a tors needing to work together.
A round-table discussion followed, moderated by Nathalie Reuter and including Georges Eischen together with Claude Turping, MD at Valorlux, Joëlle Welfring, Luxembourg’s Minister of the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development, and Cédric Gonnet, Country Director of Delhaize Luxembourg and FLAD Vice-President.
Minister Welfring started off and stressed the importance of working together for a common goal. She referenced 50% of plastics are not recycled and end up being discarded. She called out fast food wrappings but also mentioned the new law from 1 January 2024 where large supermarkets must allow in-store recycling. She said that the law should also consider users / shoppers who need to have access to recycling centres close to high concentrations of population. She addressed European legislation on packaging that needs to be good for the market and respect the environment, agreeing that consumer education is necessary.