Green Holiday Guide: Interviews with Green Businesses

Interview with Juan D. Ribes

Juan D. Ribes is an Economist and works as an Export Manager at the Polycart Group in Valencia, Spain. The Polycart Group has developed a shopping cart that is safer for children and better for the environment.

RM: Tell me about your product and why it is important for the environment.

JR: We make all plastic single block shopping carts which are better for the shops, customers, their children and the environment. The Polycart is the most efficient shopping cart from the environmental point of view. It is an eco friendly shopping cart in all the aspects of its lifespan: manufacturing, transport, use and recycling.

Clean Manufacturing Process.
Made of 100% recyclable plastic.

All manufacturing scrap parts are reground at our factory and recycled into other products.
Unlike the metallic shopping carts, no chrome plating processes are involved in the manufacturing of the Polycart, therefore it avoids entirely the use of chromic acid, hydrochloric acid, nickel chloride, nickel metal, nickel sulfate or sodium bisulfate and the corresponding residues.
The manufacturing process of plastic injection molding involves and efficient and responsible use of water, which is only intended for the refrigeration of the moulds in a closed circuit. No toxic substance is ever dumped to the water.

It has a longer lifespan, is easier to clean and recycle, and is safer for children.

RM: How did the Polycart come about?

JR: Shopping carts were invented in 1937. And little has changed since then. We are a plastic injection moulding company with lots of experience. Mr. Morcillo and Mr. Pamies, the owners of Polycart, recovered a former project by adapting the product working together with specialists from several countries and optimizing the production process to launch a new shopping cart worldwide at a competitive price. We are positive that the Polycart will change the way people look at shopping carts specially concerning maneuvering, effort and sustainability.

RM: Is the Polycart available now, and, if so, where can people find it?

JR: We started working in may 08 with two different models P220 and P180 which have been available since January 09. We launched the Polycarts starting in Spain at a couple of major retail chains and we also provided with Polycarts to some retailers in Poland. We have representatives and distributors in many countries such as Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey, Venezuela, The United Arab Emirates and The United Kingdom who are dealing with the major retail companies in order to start providing them with Polycarts.

RM: How have people responded to the Polycart?

JR: Thanks to the feedback we have received from many people, (customers, distributors, representatives, experts and final users) we have worked on continuously improving the design and features of the Polycarts. Our customers have been able to check and confirm the benefits the Polycarts provide to themselves as well as to their final users, so we are growing.

RM: If there is one message you would like to tell people about the Polycart, what would it be?

JR: We make shopping carts that are designed to be better and safer for the final users, the retailers and the community.

Thank you Juan!

I never even thought about shopping carts and all the heavy metals and materials used in manufacturing.

Juan D. Ribes grew up in Madrid where he studied economics. He studied abroad in Oklahoma and now resides in Valencia where he works for the Polycart Group.