Just One Sticker Makes Every Package Ready for Reuse

The franchise company “vomFASS” with over 200 locations worldwide has been cooperating with start-up reuse.me since this month. Whether olive oil or raspberry vinegar: vomFASS is known for its “barrel-fresh” concept, where customers can fill liquid goods directly from the barrel – in glass bottles or in their own containers.

For the mail order business, vomFASS is now relying on a reusable packaging system. vomFASS now uses its own packaging several times instead of disposing of it after the first shipment. Reuse.me has developed a solution for this: A sticker with a barcode makes each packaging reusable. This barcode is used to track each individual item of packaging and record the CO₂ savings.

Reward for Customers

After use, customers can return the packaging to one of reuse.me’s more than 700 registered collection points. As a thank you, they get a spin on the wheel of fortune – with the chance to win environmentally friendly prizes such as an e-bike or a year's supply of sustainable toilet paper.

“With this cooperation, we are opening a new chapter in the conservation of resources,” explains Tobias Haussmann, sustainability expert at vomFASS. “Our packaging has always been high-quality – now it can finally be used multiple times, which fits in perfectly with our sustainability approach.”

The reusable packaging is cost-efficient and is in no way inferior to classic disposable packaging in terms of price. According to Rudolf Siegle, founder of reuse.me, this is a decisive advantage in the highly competitive online retail sector. “This collaboration with vomFASS shows that sustainability and profitability can go hand in hand. We are sending a clear signal that reusable solutions are not only the future, but are already working in practice today,” says Siegle. “We are delighted to have gained vomFASS as a partner who is expanding our network and making the return of packaging as convenient as possible for end customers,” emphasizes Siegle, who already presented the shipping company wir.kiste.kreis at FACHPACK in 2022.

Siegle has been working in e-commerce logistics for more than ten years. “I know that you can do a lot to use less material when shopping,” he says. At some point, however, you get to the point at which you realize that reusable is an even more sustainable solution. He also noticed this when he was working at Amazon during his dual studies. It is therefore his heart's desire to bring a new concept to the market that is sustainable and economical. “Because if reusable packaging costs 2 or 3 euros more for the retailer, it won't work. If the costs are too high, we don't even need to think about it,” says Siegle, who launched the reusable concept together with Bastian Gegenheimer. The two from Pforzheim have been tweaking their concept over the past few months.

“Reuse.me is an open circulation system for reusable packaging. It can be used, for example, to count cycles of reusable packaging, determine transport routes and ultimately evaluate and report on sustainability compared to comparable disposable packaging,” says Siegle. The switch to reusable solutions must be as simple and convenient as possible for end consumers. An app for returns must be the long-term goal. The reuse.me platform essentially consists of three parts: The reuse.me app – for the return of packaging by end consumers –, the reuse.me drop app – for the return of packaging at drop points – and the reuse.me admin panel – for system management, packaging tracking, and sustainability evaluation.