Citeo is expanding its reusable packaging system for food products in France. As part of the ReUse initiative, a regional field trial has been running since June 2025 in Brittany, Normandy, the Loire Valley, and Hauts-de-France. After one year, the organisation is taking an initial assessment and expanding the offering to include more packaging formats.
More than 360 supermarkets in the four regions are now offering reusable packaging. Around 50 brands, distributors, and retail companies are participating in the pilot project with just under 170 products. According to Citeo, around 16 million consumers can use the system. The aim is to create the basis for a nationwide, standardised, and shared reusable system for food packaging in retail.
First results after twelve months
According to Citeo, around 518,000 products with a deposit were sold in the first year. This corresponds to about 80 per cent of the goods supplied. At the same time, around 108,000 packaging items were returned. The average return rate stood at 24 per cent, and in individual cases, it was as high as 60 per cent. Consumers rated the shopping experience with an average of 8.6 out of 10 points.
Standardised reusable packaging
The core of the project is standardised reusable packaging from the open packaging family „R-Cœur“. Through uniform containers, collection, transport, sorting, and cleaning are to be organised jointly and made more economical. Since 2025, 1-litre bottles for milk, juices, and soups, as well as 0.75-litre beer bottles, have been in use, among others. In 2026, further bottle shapes, jars, and wine bottles were added.
Joint collection and logistics
The regional pilot scheme involves the retail chains Carrefour, Coopérative U, Intermarché, Monoprix and E. Leclerc, as well as the brewery La Brasserie du Bout du Monde. Returns are made either via automatic return machines or semi-manual collection points. The deposit will be between 10 and 20 cents, depending on the packaging size.
A joint circular system has been established for logistics. Returned packaging is collected, sorted, and transported to two washing centres in Nantes and Lille. Operational coordination is handled by the service provider Go! Réemploi, which manages the stock of packaging and controls the entire reusable logistics, including data capture.
Source: Citeo
