Nestlé France, Le Fourgon, Circolution, and Bocoloco will provide returnable, stainless steel containers for bite-sized KitKat and Lion chocolates – hoping to help reduce the amount of single-use plastics on the confectionery market.
As part of a six-month trial taking place in the Hauts-de-France region, KitKat Ball and Lion Pops chocolates will be available in stainless steel containers from Circolution. These can be accessed via app or website with a deposit of €2.00 included in the price.
Once the product has been consumed, the empty packaging will be collected directly from the consumer; the deposit is fully refunded to the consumer, and the container is sorted, cleaned, and refilled to be redistributed.
Bocoloco will oversee the traceability of the containers in order to maximize any learnings from the trial.
“We are very pleased to see a large group like Nestlé reinvesting in reuse alongside us,” says Charles Christory, CEO and co-founder of Le Fourgon. “This is expected by consumers, and it is a new positive market signal towards the end of single-use packaging in France.”
Apparently, 91% of Nestle packaging sold in France is recyclable or reusable. The company aims to achieve 100% by the end of 2025, with the trial hoped to help increase its share of reusable packaging and keep single-use plastic packaging off the market.
KitKat and Lion will be the first confectionery brands available on Le Fourgon. The brands were previously among the winners of CITEO’s call for projects, “EncoRe plus de réemploi”, in 2023.
Mathieu Tuau, director of Packaging and Sustainability at Nestlé France, comments: “Innovate, explore and experiment; it is in this spirit that the KitKat and Lion brands are taking their first steps in the deposit system with Le Fourgon, supported by CITEO as part of the “EncoRe plus de réemploi” initiative.
“Through this six-month test, we want to assess consumer interest in this offer and try to provide a concrete solution to help reduce our impact on the environment.”
In another recent collaboration, Bocoloco worked with Botanic to implement a ‘zero-waste’ shopping solution; around thirty organic products from French brands were made available to buy in reusable and returnable jars with an additional €1.00 deposit per product. After returning the packaging, the consumer received a €1.00 voucher valid across Botanic stores.
ARRAN Sense of Scotland and Mama Bamboo have also made their beauty and personal care products available in pre-filled returnable packaging – joining a scheme founded by Reposit, Ecover, and M&S to cut down on plastic waste. Consumers can scan the QR code on the base of the empty pack to find their nearest return point, where the returned items are professionally cleaned and recirculated.
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