Precycling and 'zero waste shops'

Precycling is a practice that enables food purchases without disposable packaging whenever possible. This innovative form of food retailing can take various forms: first, in the form of stores that offer their entire product assortment unpackaged or with recyclable packaging, or stores that sell only some part of their goods unpackaged; second, in the form of service providers that provide appropriate containers to market the food. [1]

Packaging waste is growing steadily. In Germany, the largest share of processed plastics is used for packaging. Both the production and disposal of plastics produce environmentally harmful emissions, and much of the waste ends up in the oceans worldwide.^[2] The aim of precycling is to avoid packaging materials as far as possible at all individual levels of trade and consumption.^[3] This is implemented by retail stores offering food and goods for everyday consumption without packaging. Therefore, for example, dispensers for self-filling or reusable packaging are used. Customers use individual containers for their purchases, some of which they bring with them and use several times if possible. At the same time, the stores take care to reduce the amount of packaging that is used within the retail chain as well.^[4] Through the consumption of food according to the exact need, food waste can additionally be reduced.

Barriers to the expansion of this concept include its lack of suitability for everyday use, higher costs as well as lack of product availability.[7] Furthermore, there is the potential risk that consumers may not be aware of the use of packaging (in large formats) in upstream process stages. Convenience and desire to make impulse purchases could be a hurdle on the consumer side for shopping at zero waste stores. It is currently still difficult to find suppliers who offer reusable solutions as well.

Precycling is a user practice in which food is purchased without disposable packaging whenever possible. This is done either by stores offering goods unpackaged or with recyclable packaging, or in the form of service providers offering appropriate containers to market the food. The reduction in consumption of (plastic) packaging materials in traditional food retailing, as well as the increased supply of alternative packaging materials and appropriate (recycled) containers for marketing the unpackaged food, will continue to grow into the mainstream and thus protect environmental assets. Due to convenience factors in addition to the increased time needed for shopping, pure ‘zero waste shops’ will potentially remain in a slightly growing niche. Governmental guidelines and regulations could trigger rapid pressure on food retailers, companies and production facilities to achieve a reduction in packaging waste along the value chain.