The expansion seeks to accelerate the Heineken Group’s circularity agenda with a focus on condominiums, bars, restaurants and retail.
With the aim of accelerating the company’s circularity agenda and also working with consumer awareness, Heineken, through the Green Your City culture and sustainability platform, officially launches a new stage of the Volte Semper Program.
The initiative, in partnership with Owens Illinois, a world leader in the manufacture of glass containers, and the Seiva Group seeks to meet one of the main challenges of the brewing industry and will act to mitigate this scenario with the use of material collection and crushing machines.
Implementing Volte Semper on a national scale is a big step for Heineken. With the program, we are going to bring consumers closer to glass recycling, creating yet another way of understanding, seeing and practicing circularity in which they are one of the protagonists. Making our production chain even more sustainable is part of the brand’s mission to contribute to greener cities, says Eduardo Picarelli, director of the Heineken Business Unit in Brazil.
The action has two stages, the first, operating in Belo Horizonte since 2018 and will now be expanded to the following capitals: Salvador, Fortaleza, Recife, Goinia, Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro, So Paulo, Curitiba, Porto Alegre and Florianpolis. In all, 125 4R Glass machines, manufactured by the startup Grupo Seiva, will be installed in supermarket chains and residential condominiums in these cities. For consumers to participate in the program, all they have to do is go to the equipment, identify themselves using their cell phone number and insert one bottle at a time.
The machines also have a cashback system. If desired, consumers (over 18 years old) can download the Ponto Caco app, available for Android and iOS, and will be rewarded with a Ponto Caco unit for each glass container deposited in the machines. Each Point is equivalent to a R$0.10 discount on the purchase of HEINEKEN Group products purchased at partner supermarkets.
“Together with the HEINEKEN Group and Owens Illinois, we intend to revolutionize glass recycling in Brazil, transforming it not only into a point of reference, but also into an operational force. I say this because the project aims to solve a considerable portion of the problems related to to the incorrect disposal of glass packaging, whose benefits range from bar and restaurant owners, who are constantly penalized due to the complexity and high costs of waste management, to manufacturers who face the lack of glass in the domestic market, and the main thing is to fix our commitment to transform the world into a more sustainable place, promoting glass recycling and Brazil’s circular economy”, adds Daniel Nascimento, CEO of Grupo Seiva.
