European experiences in reusing bottles

The Waste Agency of Catalonia, a partner of reWINE project, organized on 18 May 2017 at the Casa Llotja del Mar, the international conference ""Qualitative prevention, a new approach towards the circular economy" to share experiences, compare points of view and explore new fields of action in waste prevention and, in particular, qualitative prevention.

 

During this event, which joined more than 200 attendees, took place a workshop to present the project reWINE and reuse system bottles proposed. The aim of the session is to show the best practices andnew awareness-raising and management strategies aimed at achieving waste prevention. In this regard, three initiatives of other European countries were presented.

 

First, Christian Schreyer, from the Regional Government of Styria (Austria) explained his experience in the implementation of a reuse system. In this region, 300 wineries share a standard bottle, which allows them to reused more easily. The bottles come from direct consumption in wineries (tastings and restaurants), consumers that return the empty bottles directly to the wineries, and from shops. 

 

Then Mikaël Schneider, from Ecoscience of Provence, presented the Commerce Engage project, which involves several wineries in the region of Provence (France). In his case, rhe bottles come from direct consumption in wineries, and the consumers that buy to producers and return the empty bottles directly to the wineries.

 

Finally, Pasi Nurminen, from Suomen Palautuspakkaus Oy (PALPA), explained the Finnish reuse system for beverage packages. In Finland, glass bottles for wine are included in the national Deposit-Refund System for beverage containers, with a refund of 10 euro cents for each bottle that consumers return to retailers.