For most customers, going to the deposit machine is part of the shopping process. Steel cups are currently being used in the vending machines in four Rewe stores. The new packaging alternative is currently being tested for coffee and cocoa.
Deposit on coffee and cocoa? Rewe is currently testing this in four stores. With a new returnable deposit system that the Frankfurt start-up Circolution has developed in cooperation with Nestlé, steel cups are to replace the plastic packaging of food. This should save waste and conserve resources.
Rewe is testing a new deposit system for cocoa and coffee
According to Nestlé, the “Anita in Steel” steel cup, weighing 123 grams, is suitable for foods with a longer shelf life thanks to its gas-tight packaging. The first test partners to test the innovation, alongside Nestlé with its “Nesquik” cocoa, are the coffee roasters Hoppenworth & Ploch and BE.AN. According to the “Lebensmittel Zeitung”, the deposit on the cups is initially 2.50 euros. Just like with plastic bottles, customers can return the empty container to the return machine for beverage bottles.
The plastic lid of the “Anita” cup is to be recycled and melted down for new lids. Customers only have to dispose of an aluminum foil under the lid in the yellow bag. Circolution is to take care of the collection after return from the retailer, the inspection, the cleaning and the return transport for refilling at the brand manufacturer. According to the start-up, the steel cups can be reused up to 80 times.
Steel cup is said to save 36 kilos of glass
The new system stands for a “sustainable use of packaging” and could “make a massive contribution to eliminating the waste problem”. As Circolution reports, “Anita” has reached the ecological footprint of an alternative made of disposable glass after five circulation cycles. In the end, this would save 75 glasses with a total weight of 36 kilograms or 5 kilograms of plastic.
According to Maximilian Bannasch, CEO of the company, additional products in the categories of coffee, coffee substitutes, mixed drinks and raw cocoa will be available in the steel cups from the third quarter of this year. “We rely on standardization and are open to all brands, private labels and food types. This is the only way to make reusable products worthwhile,” says the co-founder and CEO.
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Bernd Büsing, Head of Packaging at Nestlé Germany, conceded in an interview with “” that there was still a long way to go before the system became widespread in retail. He hopes that as many brand manufacturers as possible from a wide range of product segments will participate as quickly as possible.
Sources: “”,
Source: Stern
