Glass bottle ‘deposit’ scheme to be trialled in four French regions
Customers may receive up to 30 cents per bottle returned
Standardised items will allow multiple companies to reuse them across product ranges
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Those in areas of north-west France will be able to return glass bottles and jars to supermarkets and receive up to 30 cents for each item under a deposit scheme set to launch.
Returning glass bottles and jars was once a widespread practice in France, but in the 21st century became less common, and has now practically disappeared.
The scheme, which is being run by company Citeo, will begin in four regions of north-west France (Pays de la Loire, Brittany, Normandy, Hauts-de-France).
A similar scheme was launched in certain supermarkets in Paris earlier this year.
Read more: Glass bottle return system returns to Paris supermarkets
The arrangement will work on a series of standardised glass bottles and jars, which will be used by a variety of companies, and which will start to be manufactured by Citeo in autumn 2024, for use with items stocked in supermarkets.
Standardising the bottle / jar will make it easier to reuse.
The first bottle banks will be installed in participating supermarkets in the four regions in March 2025, before a wider operation begins in May that year.
The deposit returned to customers will be “around 20 or 30 cents per bottle or jar”, said Jean Hornain, CEO of Citeo, adding that certain items or models may have different amounts linked to them.
Shoppers who purchase items in these bottles will then be able to return them to any of the eligible bottle banks and receive the payment.
The arrangement will be more environmentally friendly; reusing glass bottles and jars saves up to 75% of energy, 50% of water and 79% of CO2 per item made.
The French government plans for up to 10% of all packaging to come from reused materials by 2027, however currently less than 1% of supermarket packaging is sourced this way.
Read more: Comment: Recycling cannot solve plastic pollution alone
Concerns over costs pushed onto shoppers
However the arrangement does not offer an overall reduction in the price of the product as the initial purchase price will be higher, by the sum later paid for the return of the bottle / jar. Hence it is a ‘deposit’ scheme.
The system is used in other European countries for items such as plastic bottles, noticeably in Germany.
Citeo is looking at ideas to make the scheme more appealing such as ‘bringing forward’ the first deposits to give customers a financial incentive as opposed to merely giving them the increase back upon the return of an item.
Read more: See 7 French supermarket items on watchdog’s ‘scam products’ list
