On the road to pursuing sustainable development, President Chain Store Corporation has always upheld the philosophy of co-creating sustainable influence. It is committed to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and building an ecosystem of sustainable common good through the efforts of different stakeholders. In 2023, President Chain Store Corporation focused on issues such as circular economy, low-carbon diet and age-friendliness, echoing SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production, SDG 13 Climate Action and SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being respectively. It also collaborated with different stakeholders in various sectors, including consumers, research institutes, social welfare groups, social enterprises, local governments, farmers, etc., to launch projects such as “Sustainable Farms,” “Furbaby Welfare Enterprise Project,” “Low-carbon Rice” and “What Time Is It? Café PLUS.” To create a better tomorrow for the earth and future generations, President Chain Store Corporation will continue to explore innovative solutions and work together with stakeholders to fulfill its corporate social responsibility and sustainable management commitments.
Circular Economy
Circular Economy
Circular economy is one of the key sustainable development directions in the world today, creating a win-win situation for the economy, society and the environment through reusing and recycling resources. As a pioneer in the retail industry, President Chain Store Corporation actively seeks innovative solutions and is committed to promoting various circular economy projects, such as Sustainable Farms, Furbaby Welfare Enterprise Project, Recycled Cup Life Circle Service and Intelligent Automatic Recycling Machine. Not only do these projects reduce waste and set an example for reuse, they also create an ecosystem of sustainable common good through diverse collaboration models and social engagement.
Sustainable Farms
In 2023, President Chain Store Corporation was the first in the retail industry to launch the “Sustainable Farm” recycling program. Expired, opened or defective scrap products and coffee grounds were systematically recycled through a mechanism before being turned into a safe and non-toxic organic fertilizer with a green zero-waste approach that is biological and natural. President Chain Store Corporation worked with a professional agricultural biotechnology team to automatically breed black soldier flies, before using the fertilizer on its contracted sustainable farms. Rich in organic matter, the fertilizer can promote the restoration of a healthy ecology for the soil.After the contracted crops are harvested, they are used in side dishes for fresh food products or sold as fresh produce in the stores.
The sustainable farm project reduces carbon emissions from food waste through reusing scrap products, while creating green business opportunities through small-scale mass production and providing consumers with new low-carbon food options. President Chain Store Corporation will continue to promote sustainable farms. In addition to scrap products from the stores, it also plans to convert food sludge from fresh food plants into organic fertilizers. Taking into account the different characteristics of waste treatment, it will continue to extend its crop production modules to different regions and expand circular economic benefits.
Furbaby Welfare Enterprise Project
President Chain Store Corporation pioneered a sustainable circular economy model in 2021 for social welfare, connecting the stores, social welfare groups and social enterprises to launch the “New Life – CHIC Corporate Charity Project” (note). This model combining social welfare and circular economy was carried over in 2023 with the innovative “Furbaby Welfare Enterprise Project” circular sustainability project that aims at reducing food waste. The project combines the iLove Food project to connect resources such as the stores, social enterprises and logistics based on the three concepts of “circular economy of zero food waste,” “supporting social enterprises” and “supporting animal rights groups” to achieve collaboration among our stores, social enterprises and social welfare groups.
(Note) For details on the project, refer to President Chain Store Corporation 2022 Sustainability Report.
President Chain Store Corporation collects specific salads and fruit during the iLove Food time slot from stores in Taipei City and New Taipei City. The products are frozen and delivered by the operator to the sheltered workshop working with the social enterprise Global ESG, Seedling Workshop of San Love Social Welfare Association. The workshop adopts professional freeze-drying technology to turn food waste from the stores into freeze-dried food for animals within 3 months, which was packaged by disabled employees in the workshop. Finally, consumers were invited to participate in pledging donations.
The Furbaby Welfare Enterprise Project optimizes food use by converting food waste that might otherwise be discarded into food for animals. It also trains people with disabilities from social welfare groups to contribute to the production process, making multiple benefits of environmental sustainability, employment for disadvantaged group and animal friendliness a reality. When consumers respond, they can learn about cherishing food as well as supporting sustainability and social welfare through practical actions. The Furbaby Welfare Enterprise Project realizes circular economy and creates a win-win situation for social welfare groups, social enterprises and President Chain Store Corporation.
(Note)：Click here to watch the video.
Recycled Cup Life Circle Service
According to the statistics of the Environmental Protection Administration, as many as 4 billion disposable beverage cups are consumed in Taiwan each year. The production of beverage cups and waste disposal both cause a heavy burden on the environment that cannot be ignored. President Chain Store Corporation joined hands with President Packaging Ind. Corp. to create the first “OPEN iECO Recycled Cup Return Machine”, investing over a year and over NT$10 million to build the in-store recycled cup rental system by the end of 2022. Consumers can borrow and return reusable recycled cups by accessing OPENPOINT on their mobile phones. In addition, the cup has a patented PP heat insulation layer to reduce the number of cup sleeves. The recycled cups that are retired afterwards will be turned into other items to achieve resource reuse.
We have started with “convenience” and “rewards” to further promote the life circle with recycled cup service. In terms of convenience, the recycled cup service was introduced to 542 stores in 2023, for a total of 1,042 stores so far. It has also been extended to Starbucks and 21Plus to build a recycled cup life circle with over 1,500 stores. In terms of rewards, President Chain Store Corporation offers an NT$7 discount for bringing your own cup on the first of each month. In 2023, the percentage of bring your own cup reached 18.90%, exceeding the 15% goal for this year. With the introduction of the recycled cup life circle service at the end of 2022, nearly 70,000 people have used and rented cups by 2023, reducing a total of 200,000 disposable beverage cups with the incorporation of other service points of the Group. The President Chain Store Corporation recycled cup life circle service has also received external recognition as the first enterprise to win the “Excellence in Recycled (Rental) Cup Service” by the Environmental Protection Administration.
Intelligent Automatic Recycling Machine
President Chain Store Corporation pioneered the “Intelligent Automatic Recycling Machine” by partnering with President Packaging Ind. Corp. The machine took over a year and is 100% locally built. It recycles PET bottles and dry cells using patented AI optical image and material identification technology while being easy and fast to use. The unique “crushing” feature can crush PET bottles into flakes, optimizing the existing procedure of recycling flattened PET bottles on the market, effectively reducing the volume by up to 75% and increasing the number of recycled bottles with the same volume, minimizing carbon footprint from transportation. In addition, recycled PET bottles are subsequently entrusted to a professional manufacturer by President Packaging Ind. Corp. to turn into recycled materials that are used to make store uniforms or products that can be sold in the stores. President Chain Store Corporation also works with major PET bottle manufacturers in Central, Southern Taiwan and outlying islands to build a “bottle to bottle” recycling system. Recycled PET bottles are handed to manufacturers for turning into new PET bottles through professional technology, building a green circular supply chain.
The Intelligent Automatic Recycling Machine has been installed in 140 stores by 2023, with nearly 7,912,000 PET bottles and 2,748,000 batteries recycled. It is estimated that a total of 262 Intelligent Automatic Recycling Machines will be installed by the end of 2024.