Back to the drugstore instead of the yellow bag: The drugstore chain dm offers its customers in selected stores the opportunity to return empty plastic bottles purchased from it. By taking back packaging, the aim is to directly obtain high-quality recyclate for the packaging of its own brands.
Around 150 dm stores in the Karlsruhe and Munich area will take part in the one-year test phase. In the stores in the test area, customers can use the special offer compartments in the recycling boxes in the checkout area to recycle plastic bottles purchased in dm stores or via the dm.de online shop, regardless of colour and size. Return empty.
Recyclate recovery through packaging take-back
The bottles handed in are transported to a nearby recycler in a resource-efficient manner using the existing logistics system. There, they are weighed and, according to the company, processed into high-quality recyclate, which is then reprocessed by a bottle manufacturer to produce a new bottle. Plastic bottles for the dm brands are processed. By using recycled materials in the packaging of dm brands, dm Drogerie Markt aims to ensure that 90 per cent of non-food plastic product packaging contains at least 50 per cent recycled material by 2025.
„Only a few recyclates obtained from packaging have so far met the quality requirements for being used to produce packaging again. It will be exciting for us to see whether and to what extent our customers can utilise the Packaging return servicee and what resources we have to use ourselves to achieve the necessary quality of the recyclates.“ Kerstin Heritage, dm Managing Director for Product Management
This commitment is embedded in a holistic corporate approach that focuses on reducing packaging, using recycled materials and recycling. „In the product development and manufacture of packaging, we pursue three goalsWe want to use as little material as necessary, as much recycled material as possible and also maximise recyclable packaging,“ explains Kerstin Erbe.
In addition to this pilot project, the drugstore chain is also committed to the circular economy in other ways. Back in 2018, dm joined forces with retailers, product and packaging manufacturers, the German dual systems, waste management companies, recycling companies and representatives from science and politics to found the Forum Recyclate to promote the circular economy. In addition, the Forum Rezyklat recognised the need to develop further recyclate standards at a very early stage, which led to the founding of the Cospatox consortium has led.
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