Bringing back the deposit system? We have to admit, we had to move mountains to make it happen, but it was worth it when we saw the enthusiasm this project has generated among you, our community. Now that we’re up and running, we want to tell you more about it and raise awareness about the importance of making sustainable consumption a habit again.
Bottle reuse: how does it work?
The deposit bottle is washed and reused to re-enter the supply chain. When we talk about a deposit, we mean the price allocated to the container. This is the 50 cents (which may be more or less depending on the type of bottle) that you get back once you return the bottle to the store. When we talk about reuse, it means that the bottle is reused (washed and repackaged) instead of being recycled (broken down and then remanufactured), and thus becomes part of a circular economy. Our Oé bottles are made from deposit bottles as much as possible and are reused to offer you new cuvées.
How does it work?
- Buy an Oé bottle from one of our partner retailers (find all our points of sale here) for an extra 50 cents
- Open and enjoy the bottle with good company. Once you’re finished, don’t forget to rinse it with water so that the liquid doesn’t stick to the bottom.
- Store the empty, clean bottle at home out of the sun
- Return your bottles to your retailer, who will store them in crates before our partner Rebooteille comes to collect all the deposit bottles.
- Get back the 50-cent deposit per bottle
Once all the store’s crates are full, the retailer contacts one of our local partners, who takes care of making a collection round to pick up the bottles, optimizing the route and reducing carbon emissions.
The bottles are washed by Ma bouteille s’appelle Revient for bottles collected in the Lyon area.
There are five players in the reuse loop: the glass bottle manufacturer (made from deposit bottles or new bottles that can later be reused), our bottler and us, your favorite points of sale in France, and you, our bottle collection partner (Rebooteille in Lyon), our washing partner (Ma Bouteille s’appelle Revient in Lyon), and finally us again, Oé, to refill the bottles and start the loop over.
Here are the key figures:
By reusing bottles, we can save 33% of the water compared to making a new bottle, reduce energy consumption by 76% and emit 79% fewer greenhouse gases.
Source: Devroche Consultants study, 2009, and Rebooteille
The benefits of bottle deposits and reuse
The deposit system has been around since the 1800s. Generally, it was our elders who showed us how to get back a few cents in exchange for returning the bottle. With recycling, the deposit system fell into obscurity, yet bringing it back into fashion allows us to:
- Reduce glass waste and the water and energy consumption associated with production,
- Create local jobs,
- Support short supply chains and encourage consumers to take good care of their waste.
One of our partners’ bottle reuse project
Our team has now been working for several months with the company Rebooteille, our partner in the Rhône, Loire, and Ain regions for reusing our bottles in these areas. Their glass bottle deposit and reuse project is now more than two years old. They began managing the implementation of the deposit system, collection, and washing in March 2020.
“We were surprised by how complex it was to recreate this forgotten virtuous practice. We had to build an entire supply chain from scratch, win people over, provide training, and draw inspiration from every link in the reuse chain, whose commitment and expertise ensure the project’s success. So we reinvented a deposit system that is more local and on a human scale, maximizing environmental and social benefits.” says Bastien, co-founder of the Rebooteille project.
