INSPIRATION
Reusing products extends their lifecycle while reducing waste and the use of new raw materials, thus, making it one of the top circular economy trends. However, there is often a lack of information about the products available for reuse.As a result,various types of sharing platforms are on the rise.For instance, asset sharing platforms allow businesses to earn revenue by lending materials or machines that otherwise
mostly remain unused. Similarly, food sharing applications help reduce food waste while preventing losses from unsold food. Apart from reusing materials,there is a shift away from single-use packaging to reusable packaging. The latter is made with durable materials to survive multiple lifecycles. Reusable
packaging is also gaining traction in the manufacturing, automotive, and consumer goods industries. It helps brands and companies significantly reduce packaging purchase and disposal costs. Additionally, they reduce the carbon footprint by sending less waste to landfills.
Excess Materials Exchange is a startup based out of the Netherlands that offers a business-to-business (B2B) digital matching platform for reusing materials or waste products. It assigns a digital identity to the materials or products with barcodes, QR codes, and RFID chips. The digital identity provides an overview of the composition, origin, toxicity, and safety of releasing such materials. The platform then identifies reuse options for the materials based on their financial, environmental, and social value.
German startup VYTAL produces reusable food packaging. It makes items like bowls, trays, mugs, and sushi and pizza packaging from recyclable polypropylene. The startup also provides a free return system through a mobile application.It allows the consumers to see all restaurants that allow borrowing or returning. The partner shop employees scan the user’s QR code in the application to verify the digital identity of the returnables. The startup then checks and cleans the returned items in a gastro dishwasher for reuse.