Reuse

Interpool

The first cross-border project for reusable packaging
Interpool
Interreg

Objective

Interpool lays the groundwork for a shared reuse system for glass bottles and jars across national borders. Fourteen organisations from Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Germany are working together on an interregional, interoperable return and pooling system that helps make the PPWR's 2030 targets achievable.

Context

The European Packaging Regulation (PPWR), in force since February 2025, sets ambitious reuse targets for packaging. Glass is ideally suited to being washed, refilled and reused, yet today reuse systems stop at national borders. Each market operates with its own logistics, its own deposit rules and its own take-back infrastructure. This fragmentation makes cross-border reuse at scale impossible. Interpool aims to break through these barriers so that glass bottles circulate rather than being thrown away. 

Approach

Interpool brings together fourteen organisations from the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany: producers, trade federations, research institutions, public-sector actors and NGOs. Together they research and test the conditions needed for a glass packaging pooling system to work across borders.

The approach follows four main work streams:

  • Mapping: an inventory of existing reuse systems in the four countries — what works, what clashes and where do the technical and policy bottlenecks lie?
  • Harmonisation: determining what is needed for systems to work at interregional scale, from deposit logic to washing infrastructure and return logistics.
  • Learning from practice: through an interregional pilot across all four markets, producers and retailers can learn what works best.
  • Shared action plan: the end goal is a joint European action plan for reusable glass packaging, serving as a blueprint for further scaling up and sharing lessons learned.

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The project is funded by the European Union through Interreg North-West Europe (NWE). Fost Plus contributes expertise in performance models for reuse systems at scale, and in consumer behaviour around reusable packaging. 

Partners

  • Belgium: UAntwerpen (REuseLab), Zero Waste Europe, New ERA – New European Reuse Alliance, MIZA – Mission Zero Academy,
  • Germany: Mehrwegverband Deutschland, GDB – Genossenschaft Deutscher Brunnen, Pro Mehrweg,
  • Netherlands: Fair Resource Foundation (projectleider), Enviu Zero Waste, Provincie Zuid-Holland, Verpact / KIDV,  
  • France: CITEO, Réseau Vrac et Réemploi 

Associate Partners:

  • Belgium: Fevia, Valipac, Comeos, GS1, OVAM, ConsomAction, Valorlux
  • Germany: DUH – Deutsche Umwelthilfe, Umweltbundesamt
  • Netherlands: Hergebruik Nu, Ministerie van Infrastructuur en Waterstaat, ICLEI – Association of Cities and Regions for Sustainable Resource Management, Wageningen Universiteit
  • France: Leko

Duration

  • Project duration: November 2025 – June 2029
  • Current stage: start-up phase — mapping existing systems and identifying bottlenecks
  • Expected results:
    • 2026: first joint pilot design
    • 2027: interregional pilot
    • 2029: final report and recommendations 

Results

Concrete results are expected over the course of the project (2026–2029). The first deliverables are:

  • An analysis of existing reuse systems in the four partner countries (expected: 2026–2027)
  • Identification of technical, logistical and policy bottlenecks to cross-border reuse
  • A shared European action plan for interoperable glass packaging pools (expected: 2027)
  • Pilot results and recommendations for policymakers and the sector (final phase: 2028–2029)