The Citeo ReUseReUseThe repeated use of a product or component for its intended purpose without significant modification. project is an ambitious initiative bringing reusable packaging to a large scale within the retail sector across four major regions in France: Brittany, Normandy, Pays de la Loire, and Hauts-de-France, collectively reaching over 16 million people. This project allows shoppers to purchase certain products in reusable packaging and then return the containers in-store via collection machines, facilitated by a user-friendly deposit-return system.
The project so far involves over 360 stores and more than 50 brands. Key retailers, including Cooperative U, Carrefour, Intermarché, Leclerc and Monoprix, have backed the initiative and involved their stores, demonstrating a significant commitment from across the industry.
One year since the launch in June 2025, more than 169 products in reusable packaging are on the shelves. This initial rollout is a critical step in creating a nationwide, shared system for reusable packaging for specific product categories in supermarkets. The primary aim is to significantly reduce waste and preserve valuable materials.
Since the project's inception, monthly sales of reusable products have grown 13-fold, and work to scale continues. This real-life implementation at scale will provide crucial data on the economic and environmental impacts of a large-scale reuse system, which will inform a nationwide rollout planned for 2027.
Why it is an example of the circular economy
We must change how we design, use, and reuse packaging. To create a circular economycircular economyA systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. It is based on three principles, driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and regenerate nature. and lower the environmental impacts of packaging, we must eliminate all problematic and unnecessary items; innovate to ensure that the packaging we do need are reduced to their minimum, reusable and/or recyclable; and circulate all the materials we use to keep them in the economy and out of the environment. The Citeo ReUse project actively works to keep materials in use and eliminate waste.
By establishing a shared, large-scale infrastructure for reusable packaging, Citeo is making it easier for consumers to participate in the circular flow of materials.
How it works
The Citeo ReUse project leverages collaboration across the value chain. It is based on:
Shared and Scaled Infrastructure: Retailers, brands, and reuse operators share collection, logistics and washing infrastructures, optimizing operational costs and making reuse more competitive.
Pooled and Standardized Packaging: 70% of the packaging in the system is standardised, known as "R-Coeur," with open-source specifications. With millions of containers in circulation, this standardization optimizes collection, sorting, washing processes and costs.
Driving Return Rates: The user-friendly deposit-return system in stores and an awareness raising consumer campaign aims to encourage high return rates, ensuring that the reusable containers are effectively recaptured for washing and refilling. The learnings so far have shown an average return rate of 24%, reaching 60% on certain products such as organic juices, milk and water.
This initiative is a direct application of key recommendations for scaling reuse, as highlighted in the Foundation's report "Unlocking a reuse revolution: scaling returnable packaging." By investing in this unique, large-scale, and collective demonstrator, Citeo and its partners are actively de-risking the implementation of reuse systems.
Furthermore, French legislation, specifically the AGEC Law, plays a critical enabling role. This law sets ambitious targets for reusable packaging (10% by 2027) and mandates that a percentage of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) fees be used to promote reusable packaging, providing financial incentives for investment in reuse infrastructure.
How challenges are overcome
The very design of the Citeo ReUse project aims to overcome common challenges in scaling reuse:
Lack of Standardization: By creating the "R-Coeur" standardized packaging, the project addresses the issue of varied packaging types that complicate sorting and processing. This allows for efficient, pooled collection, sorting, and washing.
Logistical Complexity: The shared collection, logistics and washing infrastructure significantly reduces the burden on individual brands and retailers, making the system more efficient and cost-effective. The in-store collection machines simplify the return process for consumers.
Consumer Engagement: The user-friendly deposit-return system and clear communication aim to encourage widespread consumer participation, a crucial factor for the success of any reuse model. The project’s real-life implementation has shown that consumers engage with reuse with an average rating of 8.6/10 and a 63% repurchase intention rate among shoppers..
What we can learn
The project embodies the type of fundamentally new approach that is needed to transform the market – implementing collaborative multi-brand and multi-retailer systems alongside enabling policy. Results so far give confidence that a shared reuse system works in practice and that consumers engage with it. The lessons learnt from Citeo’s work across consumer engagement, retailer activation, product offering and operations are invaluable and will help to accelerate the reuse transition.
