Greenfood to increase recycling with the help of Bower - the collaboration allows people to make money by depositing packaging

Today, half of all plastic packaging is thrown away with household rubbish. The major food group Greenfood wants to change that, which is why they are launching a collaboration with Bower, the app that allows consumers to make money sorting and recycling their packaging. For Greenfood, it is another step in their work to minimize the company’s climate footprint and contribute to an increased circular society.

Greenfood is one of northern Europe's leading players in healthy food. The group has grown strongly in recent years due to more and more people choosing a more plant-based lifestyle based on vegetables and fruits. With a foundation in the company's clear sustainability profile, Greenfood is now starting a collaboration with Bower, the app that makes it possible to recycle ordinary packaging and get money for doing so.

“When so much packaging is still thrown in the household rubbish, we must ask ourselves what more we can do to increase recycling. Through the collaboration with Bower, we strengthen our transition journey where we strive for circularity, taking responsibility and contributing to changing people’s habits. We are always curious to test new alternatives and innovative solutions where we can get involved and drive development. Bower’s app, we think, is in line with our sustainability focus,” said Lisa Isakson, Sustainability Manager at Greenfood.

Over 300,000 users
Bower was developed in Sweden and launched in 2019. The purpose is to increase recycling by encouraging and rewarding consumers to recycle and get money for doing so, instead of throwing packaging in the household waste. With the app, consumers scan a barcode or QR-code on the packaging before it is placed in recycling bins and receive points that can be turned into money to shop for more things or to make donations to charity.

“The market has lacked a solution that makes direct communication between consumer and producer available. Bower enables brands to actively encourage their consumers to increase recycling through financial incentives. What was previously considered to be just waste is now equated with a value, which means that we can finally benefit from the huge investments that have been made to produce recyclable packaging. We are so proud and happy about the collaboration with Greenfood. Everyone needs to take responsibility for us to succeed in achieving the global sustainability goals,” said Suwar Mert, CEO of Bower.

Bower’s app has so far reached around 300,000 users in Sweden. Other major food companies that collaborate with Bower include Orkla, Coop, Nestlé and GB Glace.

“We want to be involved in creating a behavioural improvement. The more brands that join Bower, the greater the chance of a change in consumer habits. It will simply be easier for consumers when they can recycle more packaging from several different brands,” said Lisa Isakson.

Opens for new countries and markets
The collaboration between Greenfood and Bower offers great potential to increase the recycling and sorting of packaging in other countries as well where Greenfood's products are available, such as through Picadeli, which has 2,000 salad bars in restaurants, canteens and grocery stores around Europe.

“Bower is embarking on an exciting journey of expansion in the markets where we are also located. This means that, together, we will open new markets and drive development towards increased recycling and a reduced climate footprint in several of the larger countries in Europe,” Lisa Isakson said.

This fall, consumers can start recycling packaging from Greenfood. Initially, the Group's brands, Picadeli and Daily Greens, are included in the collaboration, but more of Greenfood's brands may be relevant for Bower's app system in the future.