New European regulations (PPWR), circular strategies, and innovations for service packaging and the hospitality industry
Eliminating packaging is not always practically feasible. Even so, this can be an opportunity for hospitality businesses to rethink the dishes they serve – ice cream in a cone or soup in a roll, for instance. What’s more, consumers increasingly expect to be given a choice: whether they want a fork, knife or spoon, whether they want a bag or not, and so on.
Select packaging based on the product and strike the optimal balance between the ideal size for each dish and the volumes needed to achieve economies of scale. Your packaging supplier can be a partner in this.
Hospitality businesses will have to allow consumers to bring their own packaging. This is a development that offers new opportunities for both the businesses and producers of service packaging, creating space for new products, services and supporting materials, such as hygiene tools and communication stickers. For hospitality businesses, it’s a way to optimise costs and offer customers an extra service. Consumer packaging may be refused if it is not hygienically acceptable.
With reusable packaging, a minimum number of rotations must be guaranteed. An efficient returns system is therefore crucial, with a deposit refund or reward for returns and enough return locations through a network of retailers or even return vending machines (RVMs). To organise this easily and efficiently, it’s best not to work alone. Collaboration within a broader system quickly makes business cases positive. Various innovative businesses – including pool providers, laundry facilities and software vendors – offer a wide range of services to help you with this. You can find them in our MatchMaker.
Many meal delivery companies offer consumers the option of receiving their orders in reusable packaging. They can then return the reusable packaging directly from their front door when they receive their next delivery, usually in combination with a reward or deposit to encourage returns and reward customer loyalty. Read our blog about home deliveries.
When designing or redesigning service packaging, ensure it is recyclable by using our general Design for Recycling Guideline and the Design4Recycling FAQ.
The examples below are very likely to be banned from the EU market by 2030 under the new PPWR legislation:
- PVC packaging must be replaced with recyclable alternatives such as PE, PP, PS, PET, aluminium, steel or glass. Note that paper-cardboard packaging is not recommended for ready meals in Belgium, as paper-cardboard must be clean and dry in order to be recycled.
- Plastic packaging (such as trays) coloured with pigments containing carbon black must also be phased out, as they cannot be detected in sorting centres and therefore cannot be recycled. You can choose other colours or dark NIR-detectable pigments. You can also limit the coloured or carbon black printed surface to a small portion of the packaging (e.g. a logo or a stripe).
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