‘It needs to stay in the loop’: German reuse schemes turn shopping upside down

‘It needs to stay in the loop’: German reuse schemes turn shopping upside down

After success of bottle deposit schemes, some retailers are trying to widen culture of reuse – and start tackling Europe’s waste problem

René Heiden pulls two glass yoghurt jars off the shop shelf, and lists the nearby supermarkets in which they can be returned once empty.

His Berlin grocery shop avoids single-use packaging in favour of reusable containers, a waste reduction model that is having something of a revival in Germany. But it’s surprisingly hard to get right.

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