The R3PACK consortium, made up of over 25 partners from across the agri-food value chain and coordinated by (RE)SET (a consultancy dedicated to environmental and economic transition), is taking up the challenge of reusable packaging. Together, they have launched "Rapportez-moi pour réemploi" to promote the reuse of food packaging and make the deposit a genuine everyday eco-gesture. An initial experiment was launched on June 7 in 3 Coopérative U stores in northern France.
This experiment is part of the national plan to reduce single-use plan. With the introduction of the anti-waste law for a circular economy (AGEC), France is the first country in the European Union to adopt a target a target for phasing out single-use packaging by 2040.
"RAPPORTEZ-MOI POUR RÉEMPLOI" KEY FACTS AND FIGURES
A Horizon Europe project, supported by the European Commission and Citeo
+ 25 partners to date, including 2 major distributors
3 pilot stores in phase 1 (June 2024), 30 in phase 2 (from September 2024)
15 product families concerned
Standardized packaging for certain product categories
AN INITIATIVE TO DEVELOP REUSE IN SUPERMARKETS WITH A SIMPLE APPROACH FOR CONSUMERS
Industrialists Altho-Brets, Biscuits Bouvard, ECLOR Boissons, Eurial, Europe Snacks, Florette, Laiteries H. Triballat Rians, Lesieur, Les Crudettes, LSDH, Monin, Schreiber and Sodebo have joined forces with Coopérative U and Carrefour for distribution to meet a major social challenge: reducing the environmental impact of food packaging. Aware of the environmental urgency and consumer expectations, they are encouraging the use of reusable packaging that can withstand several cycles of use.
The aim is to offer consumers a wide range of everyday food products in packaging that they can easily return to any of the project's partner stores for reuse. The containers deposited in the kiosks will be collected and then washed. Once all the quality and food safety tests have been validated, the containers will be refilled by the manufacturers and returned to the shelves.
IN CONCRETE TERMS, HOW DOES IT WORK?
To find the list of stores and products concerned:
"RAPPORTEZ-MOI POUR RÉEMPLOI": OFF TO A FLYING START IN THE NORTH OF FRANCE
This ambitious project, supported by the European Commission and Citeo, began on June 7 with a trial in three Coopérative U stores in northern France (Lille-La Madeleine, Merville, Grand-Fort-Philippe). The aim is to offer customers a wide range of everyday food products in packaging that meets the conditions for reuse. Collection terminals, already successfully tested by Carrefour in the Montesson hypermarket, have been installed, enabling customers to return packaging after consumption. Very easy to use, they issue a voucher for the amount of their deposits or a refund by credit card to all those who come to deposit their packaging.
At start-up, 8 references are available.
From September 2024, for the second phase of deployment, 12 additional Coopérative U stores and 15 Carrefour stores will offer this service, with an extended range of products with reusable packaging from numerous departments: fresh produce, dairy products, sweet and savoury groceries and beverages.
The packaging will be glass or plastic, a major innovation in the reuse ecosystem. The aim of this experiment is to broaden learning about the attractiveness of reuse across a wide range of products, and to measure key reuse performance indicators (return rate, washing efficiency, packaging rotation, logistics, etc.).
A COLLECTIVE COMMITTED TO A CIRCULAR ECONOMY APPROACH
The circular economy is a major challenge for the food industry, from production to distribution. The players involved must rethink their methods and operations, but also support changes in consumer behavior. This collective commitment makes it possible to integrate more products, develop common packaging, and offer collection of many different types of packaging in a variety of interoperable locations. By standardizing packaging and pooling flows, we can rapidly massify the volumes processed and achieve economies of scale.
"Environmental and economic transition is not an option, because our resources are limited, our energy too carbon-intensive and our pollution exponential. Less than 7% of our economy is circular, and in just a few decades we will have consumed more rare earths than since the beginning of mankind. And yet, while the facts are clear, transforming is a complex challenge that requires players in the same value chain to cooperate, and industrial production models and customer and marketing experiences to be overhauled, reconciling the end of the world with the end of the month! Changing packaging is by no means simple! Hats off to the 20 players who are doing it directly, energetically and for real! We hope that many consumers will endorse these new containers, and help us to make the system even better! The difference between saying and doing is doing!" declares Géraldine Poivert, president and co-founder of (RE)SET.
