Hey, we have a birthday to celebrate! And not just any, since it is that of the deposit. A year ago, we embarked on a great adventure. That of bringing the deposit up to date everywhere in France. After several months and a lot of determination, we became the first wine brand in France to put the deposit back in place. For that, we relied on several partners who followed us in our initiative. At the start, we were few in number, and today, we have forged many partnerships with local partners throughout France. Little by little, the Oé bird is making the nest of the deposit and we take stock with you of the progress made over the past year.
The locker at Oé
The benefits of deposit
You all know it and it has been around for a very long time, abandoned in some cities in France and kept in particular in Alsace, the deposit is to reuse bottles after they have been used. By relaunching the deposit in the world of wine on the scale of France, our goal is to minimize our carbon footprint and to bet on the circular economy by valuing our bottles . The circular economy reuses resources after use instead of throwing them away. The reuse of glass is less energy-intensive than the recycling of bottles in general, which is the most widespread. Glass recycling consists of breaking and remelting glass in ovens that can go up to 1500 degrees and consume a lot of energy. To reuse glass, our deposit partners clean the bottles with hot water, which saves 33% of water compared to a new manufactured bottle, reduces the electricity used by 76% and produces 79% of gas at less greenhouse effect ( Deroche study, 2009 ).
If with the Oé team we have chosen to bring the deposit up to date in the wine sector , it is for the good of the planet. We are always looking for more consistency to do good with good, such as producing good organic wine that respects the environment, from the vines to the bottling . With the deposit , we promote short circuits and the local economy. We create jobs that cannot be relocated, we reduce our glass waste and save money for consumers and local communities. The recyclingit's 35 euros per year and per ton of waste for communities, and the deposit: almost nothing! As long as the bottles are reused, communities save money. The customer is also a winner because he saves the price of the container and is committed to the planet. Everyone meets there. Awesome, right?
The deposit principle at Oé
Several actors are involved in the process: you (the consumer), us or the merchant from whom you buy your bottle of organic wine , our collection partner or our distributor, the washing center and our bottler.
Have you seen them before? The bottles recorded in our points of sale have a small sticker on the edge of the label. If this is not the case, a poster indicates this in the store.
To find all our points of sale that do the deposit, it's here!
After the purchase, all you have to do is taste our organic Oé wines, like the good red Languedoc for example. You bring your consigned bottle back to the store and the point of sale takes care of storing the bottles until one of our collection partners or our distributor comes to collect them. When the volumes are large enough, they are then sent to a washing center at a deposit partner. Our goal through this operation is to cover all our territories and limit transport.
With regard to the process of washing returnable bottles , the bottles are washed at 73° for about twenty minutes with a mixture of water and soda to remove the labels well. They are then blown and passed through a candler to make sure that there is no water or glue left. Did you notice them? If our bottles have pretty birds cut out on the sides, it's so that the label peels off better. Nice story, right?
Once washed, the glass bottles are again ready for use and return to our bottler 40 km from Lyon or are left in the region if they find outlets for a new use. We minimize transport, hence our desire to encourage the reuse of wine bottles locally, once washed. When our partners cannot find outlets locally, we buy them back for up to twice as much as a new bottle so that they come back to our bottler near Lyon. You see, the principle of the locker is based on many actors, each representing a link in a chain just as important as each other.
Want to know more about this technique? We tell you more here, the bottle locker will soon have more secrets for you!
The deposit for a year: where are we?
We work with many partners to develop the deposit throughout France. We have therefore surrounded ourselves with traders, locker partners, distributors and washing centers in different regions.
Shops that do the deposit
We started by collaborating with around thirty committed grocery stores, caterers and restaurants in Lyon and we wanted to extend the deposit to Paris. A year later, we developed our activity in Lyon, in the capital and in many French regions. Today, more than 1⁄3 of our points of sale offer the deposit. A great victory, isn't it?
Our ultimate objective is twofold: that all our bottles marketed be returnable and that the glass in our bottles be reused. The road is long and just as Rome was not built in a day, we continue to persevere and work day by day to promote the deposit in France. When we look at the progress made in one year, we are proud!
Our returnable bottle collection and washing partners
We have surrounded ourselves with regional partners throughout France for the collection and washing of our bottles of returnable wine.
Since the launch of the deposit, we have been working with:
- Reboot in greater Lyon and its surroundings,
- My bottle is called returns in the Drôme and the Ardèche,
- Bout' à Bout' in Nantes and Rennes .
- Consign'up in the Toulouse region,
- Oc'Consigne in Occitania,
- The Bordelaise Luggage Storage in Bordeaux,
- The Returnees in the South of Aquitaine ,
- The Quick Attach in Dordogne ,
- The Provencal Deposit in Provence,
- Uzaje in Paris and Lille .
Recently, it was Alpes Consigne in the Annecy region and Haut la consigne for the Hauts de France who joined us. My bottle is called back, Uzaje and Bout' à Bout' have an internal washing center, the other partners bring their bottles to a washing center with which they collaborate. This process takes a long time to set up, we have to wait until our stored bottles are numerous enough to be washed. And yes, at Oé we limit our trips and our carbon footprint as much as possible. Our project is taking off more and more. Today, more than 2,000 bottles have been collected and washed by Rebooteille , our Lyon partner.
Always more effort for the deposit
The team puts a lot of heart into developing the instructions. We listen to the recommendations and suggestions of our partners to improve our concept. A heavier bottle is used in a format that is suitable for all washing centers compared to a standard model. The reason behind this choice? Heavier bottles are also stronger and last longer, sometimes even up to 50 washes. The challenge is to use bottles that can be reused several times and be pooled depending on the territory with other producers. Each action is consistent at 360°.
Over the past year, we have noticed that more and more people are sensitive to the deposit. And that makes our hearts happy! When we decided to bring the deposit back up to date, our wish was to encourage initiatives in all other areas of food, to rediscover it for consumers and to encourage as many people as possible to choose an ethical mode of consumption and responsible. So thank you to you who read us, customers and partners, you who have been following us in this great project for over a year now. We are counting on you to talk about all the great initiatives that you see flourishing around you, and to not hesitate to write to us at hello@oeforgood.com to advise us of points of sale near you who would like to offer wines. organic consigned.
