In addition to refills of toiletries and cleaning products, personal care is added. In Chile, also together with Mercado Circular, Caja Los Héroes inaugurated its first charging point in Maipú. Together with Procter & Gamble, a leading multinational company in consumer goods, Mercado Circular, opened its first charging point in Mexico City. Through this alliance that begins the internationalization of the Chilean startup, which developed technology for recharging products, Mexican consumers will have access to the circular economy model that reuses packaging to eliminate single-use waste from the entire chain. use. Mercado Circular’s sustainable consumption model eliminated all single-use plastic packaging and containers, which not only generates a very positive environmental impact. But it also allows us to offer quality and certified products, more economical, by eliminating the cost of packaging. And in the Mexican case, the impact is even greater. A Mexican consumer throws away more than seven kilos of plastic bottles a year. Together they generate more than 780,000 tons annually. In Mexico, the first refill point that is already operating is located at Sam’s Club Santa Fe in Mexico City and has refills of four P&G hair products, from the Pantene, Head & Shoulders and Herbal Essences brands. This is the first machine made by Mercado Circular for this type of products, since in Chile only bulk sales are authorized for toiletries and cleaning products, due to Decree 239, which prevents the sale of personal care products in refills. Ana Paula González, Director of Communications P&G Mexico, indicated that “the alliance with Mercado Circular represents an opportunity to propose possible sustainable models to Mexican consumers and learn to continue improving their daily lives now and for generations to come. “This is one of several ways we are moving towards our 2030 goals to accelerate sustainable innovation and drive circular solutions.” About technology The first innovation of Mercado Circular emerged in Valparaíso in 2017 and since that date, it has been evolving. Today, the machines allow a clean and quick refill, with a system that is easy to use by customers, who can choose the product and refill it through a touch screen. To maintain traceability of consumption and savings of single-use plastic containers, each bottle has a QR code, through which it is possible to confirm the environmental impact of each refill. Paolo Mazza, CEO of Mercado Circular highlighted the positive impact of the model they created five years ago and that today is present with charging points in Unimarc and Santa Isabel Supermarket chains, Mall Plaza Vespucio, Plaza Oeste and Plaza Norte, and recently in Mall Arauco Park. This strategy, which is part of its local expansion, also includes municipalities such as Providencia and the Los Héroes Compensation Fund, the last point opened last July, in Chile. In this regard, he pointed out that the arrival of “Mercado Circular to Mexico” responds to our expansion plan, which seeks to scale the reuse model through an internationalization strategy, in parallel to the expansion in Chile, to continue bringing the model closer to more consumers. We are on a crusade. Mercado Circular is a company, but with an important social focus. We see that consumption needs to become less polluting and that is why our objective is to contribute so that every day more instances can incorporate the circular economy model quickly, efficiently and safely.”