Here at Gekås Ullared we’ve been working hard on our responsibility to the environment since the early 1990s. For example, we have an environmental officer who works full time on environmental issues here at Gekås. Our objective is to make our carbon footprint as small as possible, and we work with a range of different measures to minimise the environmental impact of our operations on a day-to-day basis.
Biogas
Gekås Ullared is investing in biogas and owns a share of Falkenbergs Biogas AB. The project is a partnership between E.on, Falkenberg local authority and Gekås Ullared AB, which is part owner and funder of the company. All food waste from the Restaurant, the Cafe Bar, the Sports Bar and the Salad Bar, as well as food from the superstore that has to be discarded, is converted into biogas, which is then used as fuel for vehicles.
We have a fleet of 40 pool vehicles, the majority of which run on biogas.
Charge your electric car
We offer a large number of charging points. Charging is completely free for our customers. Remember to bring your own charging cable. In the event of a query, please contact magnus.la@gekas.se
Shopping bus
In 2015, 76,115 people used the Shopping Bus Together, all the customers who used the bus over the course of the year, rather than their own car, reduced emissions of CO₂ into the environment by 25,410 kg, which roughly corresponds to the amount of petrol that 9 average families would use to fill up their cars over the course of a year.
Find out more about the Shopping Bus here!
Recycling
Corrugated cardboard – Gekås recycles 3,000 tonnes of corrugated cardboard every year, which is then made into new boxes. If all of our recycled corrugated cardboard was to be made into new standard-size 30 x 30 x 40 cm boxes, we would fill the whole of our superstore with boxes stacked from floor to ceiling.
Soft plastic – We recycle around 200 tonnes of soft plastic every year. Of the soft plastic that we recycle, around 25 tonnes is used to make new yellow Gekås carrier bags. The remaining 175 tonnes of soft plastic is used to make the 2.7 million standard-size bin bags that we sell instore.
Hangers – Every year, customers deposit more than 4.5 million hangers in the bins at the checkouts. These are collected and then hand sorted by our staff. Some of the hangers are reused and the rest are sold for recycling and are turned into new hangers, buckets and other plastic products.
Office paper and newspapers – All waste office paper and all newspapers are collected and sent for recycling where they are turned into new newsprint.
Natura 2000
Our superstore is located close to Högvadsån river, in a so-called Natura 2000 area. In other words, it is one of some 4,000 areas in Sweden that have been designated by the EU as a special protection or conservation area. From our perspective, this means that whenever we plan to expand either the superstore itself or Gekås Village, our plans have to be carefully scrutinised by the County administrative board to make sure that they won’t have an adverse impact on the nature in the area.
Energy consumption
We actively strive to reduce energy consumption in all parts of our business. In our offices and storage areas we use smart controls for lighting, temperature and ventilation, which means that the lights are automatically switched off and the temperature is reduced when there is nobody in the room or when the superstore is closed. In order to ensure that no energy is wasted, the ventilation in the superstore is controlled on the basis of temperature requirements. To ensure that the system operates as efficiently as possible, eight people are responsible for its operation on a day-to-day basis.
Geothermal and LPG heating plant
The central warehouse at Sönneräng has a geothermal and LPG heating plant whose 18 boreholes are used to heat the premises in the winter and to cool them down in the summer. The LPG is mainly used for additional heating. Prior to this, oil was used. This conversion benefits the environment by reducing CO₂ emissions by 120 tonnes a year.
In conjunction with the refurbishment and expansion of the superstore and other buildings, we are converting from oil to geothermal energy, which is used both to heat and cool our premises.
Textiles Recycling
Textiles Recycling is a recycling station where you can bring clothes/textiles that you no longer need. It is a partnership with Human Bridge.
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