Innoredux

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The idea and goal of the Innoredux project is to identify innovative business models in distance and stationary retailing that can avoid or reduce plastic packaging along the value chain. The project partners are testing these business models in a living lab research approach together with several partners.

Innovations are examined in the following four product groups

• food
• cosmetics and cleaning agents
• office supplies
• textiles

The project analyses various strategies: reduction of plastic consumption through more efficient use of materials, replacement of plastic by alternative, ecologically more compatible materials, and influencing consumers' decision-making behaviour when shopping. Subsequently, the environmental impacts as well as the economic and social impacts of these strategies will be investigated in order to determine which of them are desirable and economically viable from an ecological and social point of view.

Plastic reduction measures can make a significant contribution to reducing plastic discharges into the environment and to generating competitive advantages for companies. In a living lab in the municipality of Heidelberg, the Innoredux partners are working together with a number of partners from trade and civil society to test how products can be marketed in such a way that as little packaging as possible is required and less packaging waste is created respectively. The aim is not only to consolidate strategies for reducing plastics already in use in the retail sector, but also to develop new, more far-reaching ideas. The results of the living lab will be used to derive concrete guidelines for action. Another important aspect is how the potential of such approaches can be transferred from the niche to the wider market.

Partners of the Innoredux project are Alnatura, Anna's Unverpacktes Heidelberg, Avocado Store, BUND Bundesverband, BUND Landesgruppe Baden-Württemberg, dm Drogeriemarkt, Memo, Stadt Heidelberg, Unverpackt e.V - Verband der Unverpackt Läden and Zalando.

• Packaging lab in Heidelberg
  • From 1 May to 31 July 2021, consumers were able to test new packaging solutions as part of the Innoredux packaging lab. Various shops in Heidelberg, but also the online retailer memo, offered sustainable packaging solutions for different sample products. Consumers in Heidelberg were able to learn about sustainable packaging on site, evaluate the alternatives on offer and take part in a customer survey.

• Screening life cycle assessments of various types of packaging
  • In order to examine the environmental impact of different packaging innovations more closely, screening life cycle assessments were carried out for a number of selected packaging types. Different packaging alternatives for the same product were compared with each other. In addition to the typical impact categories of the LCA, packaging intensity and waste generation were also taken into account. For some products and their packaging, infographics were created in order to better communicate the complex results of the packaging laboratory to customers.

Guides for companies and municipalities

In order to make the central findings of the Innoredux research project accessible to companies and municipalities, a guide was developed for each. The guide for companies shows how a change in packaging towards sustainability can succeed - despite the diverse demands of customers and business partners. The guide for municipalities provides a wealth of measures that municipalities can implement to reduce the volume of packaging.

A training module was developed to match each guideline, which consists of a presentation, an associated concept and a film.

Status Conference, April 2019

Innoredux was one of 20 research projects presented and discussed at the status conference of the BMBF research focus area "Plastics in the Environment". In order to ensure the networking of the individual research projects, regular meetings of the so-called cross-sectional topics (QST) are held. At the meeting of the QST-4 group "Social and political dimensions of plastics in the environment", Innoredux gave a keynote speech on the Packaging Act. It is to be expected that the Packaging Act will continue to occupy the Innoredux network and practice partners in the course of the project and will also shape the discourse on this side of the project.