Only one-in-five returns packaging in French bid to cut waste
The supermarket-led project is struggling with low return rates
Plastic salad containers are part of the reusable scheme
Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock
A nine-month experiment to get plastic and glass containers returned to supermarkets so they can be reused has shown that at best only one in five is returned.
Carried out by supermarket giants Carrefour and Co-operative U (System U and Hyper U) in 19 stores in the north and east of France, the experiment has seen collection boxes placed at the entrance to the supermarkets, with customers receiving between 30 and 80 centimes, depending on the product.
The money is paid either in the form of vouchers or directly into the customers' bank account.
Food manufacturers have been taking part and the supermarkets agreed to share 鈥渙wn brand鈥� tubs, bottles and trays to standardise packaging and make it easier for the project to get off the ground.
Read more: You can now recycle old eyeglasses at many La Poste branches in France
Financial concerns
Among the 20 products in the experiment, which is still running, are chips, salads, and cream cheese.
The packaging is washed and returned to the brands, which reuse it for new items - up to five times for plastic packaging and up to 20 times for glass. A sticker shows which products are in the scheme.
Containers for chips were returned just 15% of the time in the first nine months in U stores, while cream cheese containers were returned 20% of the time.
The aim is to reach 100% before the 18-month trial ends, and convince more brands to take part in the experiment.
The scheme is being sponsored to 70% by the recycling company Cit茅o, with the remaining 30% covered by the European Union.
Given the low return levels at present, there are concerns about the scheme鈥檚 financial viability, as well as the CO2 impact of collecting and washing the containers compared to if they were bought new.
However, the project leaders are persisting and hope they will find a 鈥渕agic formula鈥� to make the re-use project workable.
Read more: What is an eco-friendly way to get rid of old clothes in France?
New scheme in north of France
Cit茅o is also sponsoring a project due to start in May in Pays de la Loire, Normandy, Brittany and Hauts-de-France regions which will focus on the reuse of glass bottles and containers.
Like the earlier experiment, customers will be paid a small amount when they take containers back to supermarkets, and food manufacturers are geared up to wash, fill and label the containers.
France has a target, set in law in 2020, to have at least 10% of all packaging re-used by 2027.
