On Monday 17 April 2023, Valorlux announced the launch of “Spin”, a digital system for borrowing reusable packaging for take-away and home delivery services.
By using an app available on IOS and Android, consumers will be able to borrow reusable packaging for free and return them after use.
From 1 January 2025, the waste law will ban the use of single-use containers, trays, plates and cutlery for take-away and home delivery services. In order to prepare for this change and to accompany its members in their compliance with this legal obligation, Valorlux launched a pilot project for “Spin”, a digital system that allows users to borrow reusable packaging, on Monday. Valorlux presented this project during a press conference.
During the first phase of the pilot project, Spin will be available at fifteen points of sale in the Horeca (hospitality) sector in Luxembourg City and will allow consumers to borrow a 0.3 l reusable cup for take-away drinks. Other types of packaging and shops will be added to the system depending on the development of the pilot project.
An app allows consumers to borrow packaging and to return it to a drop-off point after consuming their drink. For the consumer, the use is free of charge as long as the packaging is returned within twelve days. For each cup or lid that is not returned on time, a deposit of €5 will be debited.
“We are an organisation whose mission is not to sell reusable packaging. That’s the reason why participating in Spin is free of charge for the consumer as long as they return the borrowed packaging. Our objective must be to maximise the number of rotations of the items and to keep them in the Spin circuit! If the packaging disappears in the cupboards of consumers after only a few rotations, the environmental impact will not be lower than that of single-use packaging,” pointed out Claude Turping, Director of Valorlux.
Valorlux has 28 years of experience in the area of recycling and recovery of packaging waste in Luxembourg.
“Since the law will be applicable from 1 January 2025, we need to anticipate this change. Today, Valorlux handles its members’ legal obligations concerning the collection, sorting and recycling of packaging waste. With this pilot project, we want to analyse if we could, in a similar way, offer a mutualised and consolidated solution for our members for all their obligations concerning reuse,” added Claude Turping.
Some 5,000 reusable cups will circulate during the pilot phase in Luxembourg City and will be collected and washed daily in a centralised washing centre in the south of the country.
