Alina Oprea • 18 December, 2023 at 10:19 AM
Kaufland Romania has inaugurated the first store in Bucharest with a mini-urban forest, planted on an area of 1,500 sqm in the parking lot of the new hypermarket. The initiative is a first for retail in Romania and marks the beginning of a new project, through which Kaufland aims to contribute to the reduction of pollution in the urban environment. Built on a total area of more than 6,000 sqm, the hypermarket has a sales space of approximately 3,300 sqm and offers customers access to numerous eco-friendly and automatic packaging return facilities, with or without the "Guaranteed Packaging" symbol.
The new Kaufland differs from the other stores in the country by the saplings planted on an area of 1,500 sqm in the parking area, which will grow over time and form an urban forest in the heart of Bucharest. With the support of the company's employees, as part of the "We plant good deeds in Romania" initiative, approximately 2,000 saplings of several species were planted in the first stage: a mixture of red oak, pedunculate oak, brumaria oak, ash, mulberry, elm, cherry, pith, and others. They will be periodically supplemented and cared for in the coming years.
The action at Kaufland Popa Nan is the first of a series of six urban mini-forest plantings planned until the end of 2024. The concept was tested through a pilot stage in March 2023, at the Kaufland Crevedia store, Dâmbovița County, where the first urban mini-forest was planted, with 1,000 saplings and 1,200 sqm.
Such forests will also be planted at Kaufland Emil Racoviță in Bucharest, Kaufland Comarnic, and Kaufland Zalău.
The car park has a total capacity of approximately 240 places, of which 9 are for disabled people and 7 are for parents. At the same time, customers also have 5 places with access to charging stations for electric cars and bike racks.
The new Kaufland store in Bucharest also integrates separate collection systems, to encourage ecological behavior. Thus, in the store's parking lot, customers will find a self-service double recycling machine, where they can recycle packaging in exchange for extra-discount vouchers.
Packaging of personal care or cleaning products can also be submitted for recycling and will be rewarded on the spot with vouchers for a 35% discount on the purchase of other new products from the monthly offer. Customers can deposit empty plastic bottles of shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, body, face or hand cream, mouthwash, or liquid soap, but also empty containers of cleaning products, such as clothes or dish detergents, cleaning solutions for the kitchen, bathroom, floor or windows.
Kaufland Romania thus reaches a network of 23 units in Bucharest, respectively 173 at the national level.