Recycling and Reuse: How the Circular Economy Works at the Bakery

The Munich-based startup Wecarry and Wildplastic from Hamburg are cooperating to reduce packaging waste in bakeries. By using reusable bread bags and mailing bags made from recycled wild plastic, they are creating an environmentally friendly alternative to disposable packaging and helping to reduce plastic waste in the environment.

A person is holding a reusable bag — Wecarry offers a deposit system for reusable bread bags made from 100% organic cotton in bakeries. The hygienic transport packaging now comes from Wildplastic.

Wecarry offers a deposit system for reusable bags made from 100 % organic cotton at the bakery. When you buy bread and other baked goods at participating bakeries, you can borrow an organic cotton bag for a deposit of 2 euros. This can be used as often as you like or returned to a participating bakery. Used bags are collected, cleaned and reused by Wecarry. “In Munich, we visit our partners every two weeks with e-cargo bikes, bringing fresh bags and picking up used ones. Outside the city, we use the bakeries‘ own logistics. This means that no additional trips are needed because the bakeries are regularly visited by the head office,” explains Mischa Wendel, co-founder of Wecarry.

One challenge remained: “We don't just pack our bread bags into the bakeries’ e-bikes or vehicles. We need packaging for our bread bags in the logistics process to ensure hygienic protection,” says Mischa Wendel. The Munich-based company has opted for a solution from Hamburg. Together with local partner organisations, the Hamburg-based company Wildplasticis bringing wild plastic back into the recycling loop in countries without adequate waste management – such as India or Indonesia – and processing it into new products such as bin liners and mailing bags. Littered plastic is all the plastic that is outside the recycling loop, in illegal landfills, in nature or on the streets.

A girl is holding a refundable plastic bag — In Munich, the bags are collected in an environmentally friendly way using electric cargo bikes.

“The visions of Wecarry and Wildplastic couldn't be a better match. In the end, it's always about keeping materials in the cycle, giving them a longer life and minimising the use of new resources,” says Christian Sigmund, CEO and co-founder of Wildplastic. Wecarry is not alone in using Wildplastic mailing bags: Mail-order company OTTO – as reported by FACHPACK360° – , Hermes Germany, football clubs BVB and HSV are already using the mailing bags made from wild plastic. The bags are branded with the respective company and make a statement for more sustainability in the mail-order and logistics sectors.

The cooperation between Wecarry and Wildplastic shows once again that many seemingly small innovations together make a difference. And big projects can come out of wild ideas: “We currently have a clear focus on the greater Munich area. But that should change very soon. With logistics centres all over Germany, we will be able to enable bakeries across the country to gradually switch from single-use to reusable packaging,” Mischa Wendel reveals.

Wildplastic has also distinguished itself at the 2024 German Packaging Award for its sustainable packaging solutions. Together with the organisation Goldeimer and Wepa, Wildplastic has developed an innovative toilet paper packaging that consists of 50 % Wildplastic – recycled plastic that was originally in the environment outside the recycling loop. This packaging solution not only helps to reduce plastic waste, This initiative won an award in the ‘Sustainability’ category and was recognised as a pioneering example of environmentally friendly packaging solutions.