Deposit-based reusable consumer packaging

How Repasys became a world-premier in reusable packaging for fresh foods in retail

100.000

Packages in use

6

Retailers participating

About

REPASYS is Belgium's first large-scale pilot for reusable food packaging in fresh produce. Six competing supermarket chains (Albert Heijn, ALDI, Carrefour, Colruyt, Delhaize and Lidl) sell white mushrooms in a single, standardised reusable tray across the Mechelen region for six months. Consumers pay a €0.30 deposit, return the empty tray to any participating store, and the tray is industrially washed and put back into circulation. The project is coordinated by Flanders' FOOD and VIL with support from VLAIO, and brings together the full value chain: retailers, producers, logistics partners, packaging manufacturers, Fost Plus, GS1 Belgilux, Comeos and Made. REPASYS is the operational blueprint for how Belgian retail will respond to the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which restricts single-use plastic packaging on lightweight fresh produce from 2030.

Industry

Deposit-based reusable consumer packaging

Founded

2026

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"What makes REPASYS interesting for us is the combination of the project's ambition and the simplicity of the system. A uniform tray, a clear deposit, return possible at any participating store: these are exactly the conditions that help remove the barriers to reuse."

Elke Gijsbrechts

Fost Plus

GS1-standardised digital twins for every package in the pool

One tray, one identity, one source of truth

Every reusable tray in REPASYS carries a unique QR code printed according to the GS1 Digital Link standard. Rotion issues these codes and maintains the digital twin behind each one, so every individual tray has its own traceable identity from the moment it leaves the producer. That identity follows the tray through washing, redistribution, the shelf, the consumer's home and the return kiosk, capturing every event along the way. Working on open GS1 standards rather than a closed proprietary system is what makes the pool interoperable across six retailers, multiple logistics partners and the wash centre.

From producer line to in-store return kiosk

The hardware layer that makes scanning happen

A reusable system only works if every stakeholder can scan a tray quickly and reliably at every handover point. Rotion specifies, deploys and supports the scanning infrastructure across the full chain: scan stations at the producer and the wash centre, mobile and fixed scanning at logistics nodes, and the consumer-facing return kiosks placed inside participating supermarkets where shoppers reclaim their deposit. The kiosks are designed for a sub-ten-second return experience, because consumer friction is the single biggest risk to return rates, and return rates are what make the unit economics of reuse work.

"Digital traceability gives reusable packaging a reliable and transparent lifecycle, with countless valuable insights. When we do this on the basis of open standards, a connected ecosystem emerges that speaks the same language, and we can work together towards efficient and scalable implementation. That is how we open the door to a circular future."

Karen Arkesteyn

GS1 Belgilux

€0.30 per tray, six chains, one clearing layer

Neutral deposit settlement between competing retailers

Because a consumer can buy a tray at Colruyt and return it at Lidl, deposits flow across retailer boundaries every day. Rotion operates as the neutral clearing layer that tracks where each tray was sold, where it was returned, and which retailer therefore owes or is owed the €0.30 deposit. Settlement runs automatically on the back of the same scan data that powers traceability, so retailers do not need to reconcile manually and no party is exposed to deposit imbalance. This is the piece that makes open-loop reuse commercially viable for retailers who are otherwise direct competitors.

Every partner sees their data, and only theirs

Real-time visibility, with strict data partitioning

Rotion's portal gives every partner in the coalition a live view of the trays moving through their part of the chain: return rates, dwell times, washing cycles, attrition, location distribution and deposit balance. Each partner's view is scoped to their own operational footprint, so retailers, the producer, the wash centre and the logistics partners each get the data they need without seeing commercially sensitive information from the others. Aggregated, anonymised insights flow back to Flanders' FOOD, VIL and Fost Plus to evaluate the pilot and inform PPWR-readiness across the wider Belgian market.

man wearing inner dress shirt with black blazer standing outside at daytime

"With a circular approach, we can use raw materials more intelligently and reduce waste and emissions."

Geert Verbelen

VIL

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