TOMRA Reuse has announced the installation of two return machines at Freiburg Central Station in Germany, integrating automated returns into the city’s existing reusable system.
Together with the established RECUP network, the machines seek to offer consumers a convenient way to return their cups without needing to find a participating café. TOMRA claims Freiburg is the first city in Germany to integrate automated returns into an existing reusable environment, adding that it already has a reusable packaging culture and a packaging tax that actively favours reusables over single-use alternatives.
TOMRA says the two machines installed at Freiburg Central Station allow cup returns at any time without a counter interaction and immediately refund the deposit to the user’s digital payment method. The machines recognize RECUP cups automatically.
TOMRA Reuse provides the physical return infrastructure and the digital platform for the project. The company states that the machines currently accept RECUP cups, but the infrastructure can be configured for other reusable packaging formats in the future.
Reportedly, over 30 TOMRA Reuse return machines have been operating in public spaces in Aarhus, Denmark since January 2024, with nearly two million returns processed and a return rate of 89% over the past 12 months.
In other return scheme news, Portugal launched its national Deposit Return System (DRS) for ready-to-drink beverage packaging in April, covering mainstream beverages sold in plastic, aluminium, or steel containers of less than 3L such as bottled water, carbonated soft drinks, beer and cider. The scheme has introduced over 3,000 collection points, including baling capabilities at remote kiosk locations.
This month TOMRA published a report outlining the five key factors behind the world’s highest-performing deposit return schemes (DRS) for drinks container recycling, evaluating deposit systems against metrics such as return rate and the number of return locations per capita. The company also noted increasing public and policy demand to address plastic pollution, slow rising recycling costs and move towards circular economy models.
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