RELOOPED Strategic Report and Roadmap on Codesigning Circular Packaging Retail Systems
If you are interested in how circular packaging can work in real retail environments, discover practical insights, innovations, and lessons from Denmark and Poland, you can download the RELOOPED Strategic Report here:
The transition toward circular retail systems is accelerating across Europe, driven by a combination of consumer demand, policy pressures, and corporate sustainability ambitions. The RELOOPED project seeks to contribute to this shift by developing and testing circular packaging systems in Denmark and Poland using real-world experimentation, stakeholder engagement, and business-model innovation in Denmark and Poland.
This report presents diverse perspectives and research in seven thematic chapters that collectively examine the complexity and opportunities of circular food-packaging systems. These include: material trends, design innovations, user behaviour, business-model transformation, and co-design methodologies—all centred around the practical realities of packaging systems in retail environments.
Ultimately, this report serves as a snapshot of current practices and as a roadmap for further progress. It highlights the urgent need for retailers, policymakers, designers, and consumers to work together to come up with packaging systems that are sustainable, functional, and scalable. The RELOOPED project provides concrete insights and tested tools that can inspire broader action toward circular retail futures.
“Although Coop Denmark undeniably operates in a highly competitive market of fast moving consumer goods, we continuously strive to reduce our environmental footprint in all our activities. This report provides examples of practical knowledge that helps retailers move from ambition to implementation—without losing sight of food safety, affordability, or consumer trust. It has always been financially sound not to use more material than what is feasibly needed, but questions of sustainability continue to arise with increasing urgency. Therefore, we must trust that we can use our resources more intelligently while still strengthening the support of our customers, suppliers, stakeholders, and ultimately achieving financial benefits.
This work makes a valuable contribution to that balance.
Coop proudly contribute to the Relooped project by engaging in dialogue with project partners and sharing valuable insights from the retail sector. Additionally, we’ve introduced a living lab on Bornholm, where we got valuable insights on the potential of bulk sales of dried goods from dispensers and reuse of packaging brought by consumers.”
– Adam Engberg Johannsen, Packaging Project Manager, Coop Denmark
“Modern retail is facing one of the greatest challenges in its history: the transition from a linear model to a truly circular one. This transformation requires not only new technologies and material solutions, but above all close cooperation between business, academia, and the public sector. The RELOOPED project is a practical example of such a partnership.
At Żabka Polska, we believe that responsibility for packaging begins at the design stage and only ends when the material is given a chance for a new life. That is why we actively participate in initiatives that allow us to test new operating models in real store environments—from reusable systems and return schemes to more efficient recycling solutions. Our stores, operating as Living Labs, make it possible to test innovations in the context of everyday customer behavior, enriching the entire process of developing circular packaging systems.
Participation in RELOOPED gives us the opportunity to exchange knowledge with partners from different countries, jointly design future solutions, and access unique data on how materials perform in circulation. It also represents a tangible contribution to building a European circular economy, in which the role of the retail sector is becoming increasingly important.
We believe that the findings and recommendations presented in this report will help us further improve how we design systems that reduce waste, enhance recycling quality, and support customers in making more sustainable choices. This is an important step toward delivering on our responsibility strategy and our ambition to develop the retail of the future—convenient, modern, and environmentally friendly.”
– Rafał Skawski, Circularity Manager, Żabka Polska
