-
Could you tell us about your position and CITEO’s missions/activities?
I head up the eco-design & reuse team, whose mission is to create the conditions that will enable companies to reduce the environmental impact of the packaging they put on the market (while protecting the products they contain!), and to help them make the necessary changes, from raising their environmental awareness to changing their practices. To do this, we focus on reducing the packaging we put on the market, reusing it, making it recyclable, and the materials used in its manufacture.
-
The 2024 edition of Circular Challenge took place recently, with a number of prizewinners. Can you tell us about the highlights of the 2024 innovations, which may be linked to the Right Packaging concept dear to the CNE?
The Circular Challenge aims to source and accelerate solutions at every stage of the packaging value chain, from design to collection, sorting and recycling, including reuse loops.
The Citeo Circular Challenge Class of 2024 is a good illustration of this, with solutions designed to achieve ” Right packaging” and optimize the performance of packaging management.
On the design side, the AVEC company designs and produces cellulose-based cushioning to replace polystyrene or plastic foam at a competitive price. Their patented solution is based on a low-carbon process and can protect heavy and fragile objects (>7kg).
Optimization and efficiency of sorting: Technological innovation can optimize a number of processes in materials traceability and waste management. One winner, Greyparrot, is developing an artificial intelligence-based waste recognition system that boosts the performance of sorting centers by effectively analyzing the waste flows circulating through them.
Simplicity for the recovery of abandoned waste: Vertuoso designs and produces rainwater purification solutions in the form of a standardized, patented, low-tech stainless steel filter for installation in roadway gullies. It can be integrated as a turnkey solution for network maintenance.
Two award-winning solutions this year to deploy reusable solutions for even greater packaging circularity: Haut la Consigne, which supports food manufacturers in their transition to reusable containers by offering advice and operational collection and washing solutions. La Tournée, a home delivery service for everyday groceries (food, beverages and hygiene products) in returnable, reusable packaging. The service includes collection of returnable containers with each new delivery.
Innovative solutions that Citeo will be supporting over the next 6 months!
-
The AGEC law highlights packaging reuse as one of the solutions for reducing the environmental impact of packaging. Citeo invests 50 million euros a year in this area:
– List the actions taken with marketers?
– Explain how reused packaging is reported?
In 2023, Citeo launched the ReUse project with the aim of prefiguring and deploying, in co-construction with all the players in the ecosystem, a nationwide, shared reuse system for food packaging sold in supermarkets. At the same time, we launched the “Encore plus de Réemploi” call for projects to support and co-finance R&D and/or scale-up projects by manufacturers, distributors and reuse operators.
This Call for Projects was a great success, with 164 projects representing all sectors and all types of reuse (pre-packaged, bulk, refills, etc.) submitted for funding of around €35 million. In 2024, the ambition will be even greater, as this will be the year in which the ReUse scheme is activated and new Calls for Projects are launched, with funding in excess of €50 million.
Based on Ademe’s work on accounting for reuse, we have also launched the first reporting on reused packaging, available on our customers’ space at the end of 2023, which will provide feedback on the actual rate of reuse of packaging in France.
