REMONDIS’ cooperation with leading retailers in Germany is helping to ensure that around 18 billion used beverage containers are fed into the recycling cycle each year, some of which would otherwise end up in incineration plants or roadside ditches. The design of the deposit system offers retailers great opportunities in this regard. Several countries in Europe have announced deposit return systems which are to be introduced over the next few years. REMONDIS now wants to become more involved both nationally and internationally by making an acquisition.
While a European directive stipulates that, from 2029 onwards, nine out of ten plastic bottles should find their way into the recycling system via separate collection, Germany has achieved a leading return rate of 98.5% in an international comparison with its one-way deposit system and, in doing so, produces such a pure waste stream that the next European target of using at least 30% recycled plastic in new bottles from 2030 onwards can already be met today. The willingness of the retail partners to play a role in the development of sustainable packaging recycling has played a large part in the success achieved so far.
REMONDIS plans to use the experience it has gained from its successful cooperation with retailers and global consumer goods producers in Germany to launch innovative new take-back systems. With its RE DEPOSIT service portfolio, the company, as a “one-stop shop for deposit return systems”, offers all the modules needed to run a successful, modern system right from the start.
Takeover of Diebold Nixdorf Technology and Diebold Nixdorf Retail Services
The takeover of Diebold Nixdorf’s reverse vending machine division by REMONDIS has now been sealed with effect from 31 January 2022. This includes the business units Diebold Nixdorf Technology and Diebold Nixdorf Retail Services, which will from now on trade under the names RE DEPOSIT Solutions GmbH and RE DEPOSIT Services GmbH. The head office, which is located in Ilmenau in the German state of Thuringia, with its management, development, production, services and administration departments, serves international customers with a variety of take-back systems for single-use and reusable packaging.
Ralf Mandelatz, REMONDIS managing director, sees great potential in this: “The staff at RE DEPOSIT Solutions GmbH and its predecessor organisation have been developing, producing and operating take-back technologies for over two decades and are well aware of the expectations our customers have in terms of reliability, service quality and cost-effectiveness. The intelligent take-back systems perfectly complement our services in the collection systems and, with REMONDIS, our customers continue to have a partner at hand who can also implement individual recycling solutions on an international level.”
Erik Trumpp, managing director of RE DEPOSIT Solutions GmbH, explained, “The simple and quick return of deposit containers has become an integral part of the shopping experience. The best possible fulfilment of customer wishes, together with the requirements of the new packaging regulations, pose enormous challenges for food retailers. In the future, our vending machines, as part of REMONDIS’ flexible and modular range of solutions, will enable retailers to offer a wide range of tailor-made solutions. We offer retailers a large number of options for paying out deposits for their customers as well as perfect integration into the individual shopping experience.”
“Stores benefit from increased footfall and receive a boost in sales as customers redeem their vouchers in-store,” adds Marc Herrmann, managing director of RE DEPOSIT Services. “Consumers enjoy the convenience of being able to return their empties at the same time as they shop. The deposit money that is donated benefits charities that have been nominated in advance by the retailers. The most important thing, however, is that more bottles and cans are recycled to a high standard and we all reduce our carbon footprint as a result.”
Since 2006, REMONDIS has been a service provider within the German deposit return system for single-use beverage packaging – a deposit system that was largely designed by retailers and the industry. Every year, the 20,000 reverse vending machines connected to REMONDIS as well as the manual take-back points identify and collect billions of empty drinks containers which can then be recycled into new containers. REMONDIS offers the complete package from collection logistics to deposit accounting to the production of recycled raw materials.
REMONDIS’ cooperation with retailers is at the heart of the world’s most successful deposit system.
Image credits: image 1: © Diebold Nixdorf Technology GmbH
