Reducing waste is a key goal addressed by the EU’s Green Deal, and the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) supports this ambition. It’s designed to cut packaging waste, improve recyclability and require reuse or refill systems for certain packaging types. This makes innovative reusable packaging solutions an important compliance pathway for brands and logistics providers. In this episode of the Beyond Threads podcast, host Erik Janssen Steenberg sits down with Lucas Hullegie, co-founder of Dutch reusable packaging company BOXO, and Bleckmann’s Manager CSR Ron Thijssen, to talk all things PPWR and explore how brands can deploy innovative solutions to help them secure compliance.
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The waste imperative: An EU-wide strategy
The EU’s PPWR pursues three core goals: reduce packaging waste, make all packaging recyclable by 2030, and mandate reuse for targeted categories like transport and e-commerce packaging. EU residents generate large amounts of packaging waste every year, with e-commerce contributing a growing share. Therefore, reducing packaging waste in this area could have a big impact on reducing overall waste.
However, driving a viable transition from single-use to reusable packaging involves three interconnected challenges: changing habitual consumer and industry behaviour; building efficient reuse systems that compete with the low cost of single-use; and achieving packaging return rates that make the business case viable. Since 2021, the BOXO team has been busy creating practical solutions to these problems.
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Going Dutch: Why reusable packaging is on the rise in the Netherlands
BOXO’s packaging solution reflects a return model that the Netherlands is already very familiar with: the beer crate deposit system. Running since the 1960s and with a very high return rate, it requires customers to pay a small deposit on their bottles and crates at the point of purchase – money they can get back in full when they return the empties to the store. The BOXO model uses the same principle, with every piece of packaging given a unique, traceable ID tied to a €3.95 deposit. Consumers can then reclaim this when they take the packaging to a BOXO return point. For simplicity, brands can add a dedicated BOXO option to checkout through plug-and-play integrations for Shopify and other platforms.
To give an idea of where the market is heading, major sports gear retailer Decathlon ran a pilot scheme in partnership with BOXO, using its packaging for all click-and-collect orders in the Netherlands. This has now been expanded to B2C home delivery for customers living near a BOXO return point. BOXO now has many front-running companies on board, and we also have a longstanding relationship with them. After all, to ensure the ongoing scale-up of such solutions, the entire logistics ecosystem needs to adapt.
Unboxing the future: The strategic advantage of early adoption
The PPWR’s main waste reduction targets take effect from 2030, but influencing consumer behaviour and implementing the necessary infrastructure updates to make returned packaging the norm will take time. Lucas and Ron are both in agreement on this, suggesting first offering reusable packaging as an option alongside existing single-use options, not instead of them. While research confirms that consumers are open to reusable packaging, convenience and choice are the deciding factors for long-term adoption. “The ease should be the return,” says Lucas, “replacing the ease of throwing it [the packaging] away.”
The BOXO deposit system, when combined with loyalty programme incentives, also provides brands with a practical way to engage more with environmentally conscious customers and establishes an additional brand experience touchpoint after the consumer has received their order. However, to achieve these compliance and experience benefits, collaboration is key. The conversation highlights that no single company can drive this shift alone. Brands, fulfilment partners, packaging manufacturers and consumers all have a part to play. And with PPWR compliance obligations on the horizon, now is the time to get started.
Want to know more about the EU Green Deal and its implications for fashion and lifestyle brands? Check out the other podcast episodes in our Green Deal series or get in contact for a free consultation with a Bleckmann expert.
