Reuse systems work locally, so why not across borders? 🌍🍾
Interpool has officially been launched! At the end of March, 14 organisations from Belgium, France, Germany, and the Netherlands gathered at the Fair Resource Foundation offices in Utrecht, to kick off a 3.5-year collaboration aimed at transforming reusable glass packaging across Europe. Together, we built a team, a foundation, and a plan.
From policy to the field
- We mapped policy landscapes and documenting existing systems.
- We gained insights into European packaging regulations.
- We visited the local return-anything collection point ‘Droppie’.
- We visited PAKT and Jumbo facilities in Woerden to see the innovation of glass circularity in action. "Green washing, for real!"
- We symbolically and formally kicked off the project with Woerden’s local alderman, Jelmer Vierstra, depositing a bottle into Jumbo’s return machine.
Why now?
With glass production costs rising, new EU packaging regulations (PPWR) and geopolitical turmoil that underlines the need for resource independence, the momentum for scaling up reuse is big. The potential impact is massive: in Germany alone, 710.000 tons of packaging waste for wine, canned fruit and vegetable products, and oil and vinegar could be avoided every year! Interpool is tapping into this momentum by creating the enabling conditions for transnational reuse pooling systems for glass packaging.
Get involved
The project can only succeed with input from every part of the supply chain. Are you a producer, retailer or reuse system provider, and interested in playing a role? Get in touch, join our stakeholder network, or schedule a one-on-one meeting by e-mailing to interpool@fairresourcefoundation.org.
