A three-month pilot project to implement a cross-vendor return concept for reusable containers for out-of-home consumption of food and drinks has been successfully completed. The pilot in a Bavarian municipality in the district of Munich is the result of cooperation between various stakeholders.
The three-month campaign, which was sponsored by the Federal Environment Agency and the German Federal Environmental Foundation, was able to build on the broad support and great commitment of all those involved. The close cooperation with the municipality of Haar, the three reusable system providers reCIRCLE, RECUP and Relevo and the participating local businesses enabled the organisers of ReFrastructure, the foundation for digital reusable infrastructure, to achieve the goals set for this first cross-provider pilot.
All participating final distributors have taken back all reusable containers from all suppliers in recent months. The containers that they were unable to return themselves were collected by ReFrastructure and professionally cleaned by the Munich-based company Profimiet before being returned to the cycle. In a final survey, the majority of the restaurateurs were also willing to take back the containers. continue to take back reusable containers from all suppliers, the project should be continued.
During the Focus on testing the digital infrastructure The „Haar geht den Mehrweg“ campaign to inform and mobilise citizens was another central component of this pilot project. This not only enabled a proof of concept for the digital infrastructure to be achieved, but also educating and raising awareness among residents The aim is to raise awareness of the circular economy, the packaging revolution and the benefits of reusable packaging.
In total, over 550 container uses and more than 3,500 transactions were recorded on the digital infrastructure. Despite all the satisfaction with the progress and the findings from the pilot project, it was also noted that the awareness and use of reusable containers for take-away food and drinks has increased significantly despite the obligation to offer reusable containers since January 2023. is still in its infancy.
„We are very satisfied with the results of the pilot test and were able to show that cross-vendor returns are feasible and accepted by consumers. However, the obligation to offer reusable packaging has not yet been fully realised by many retailers and, as a result, the use of reusable packaging is still a long way from being a real alternative to single-use packaging for consumers.“
Tilmann Walz, one of the founders of ReFrastructure
ReFrastructure now wants to work with the Mehrwegverband Deutschland, the Kühne Logistics University, the Plastic-Free City Initiative and the Wuppertal Institute follow up and utilise the findings and experiences from this pilot project to prepare further projects.
Source: ReFrastructure
