Packaging and closures have been defined for the most important product groups in drugstores and supermarkets on the Frankfurt Bridges

Exemplarily, it has been defined for the most important drugstore products and foodstuffs in the supermarket which packaging is best suited with which closure. In addition, there will be significantly more packaging sizes on the Frankfurt Bridges: This is because food is often thrown away primarily because packaging is too large and contents are not used up before the expiration date. This represents a major environmental burden.

Content: With few materials, all assortments in supermarket and drugstore can be packed

In the supermarkets on the Frankurt Bridges, packaging is avoided wherever possible - especially for regional fruit and vegetables.

Suitable packaging was assigned for all common products: If reusable glass or steel packaging came into question, suitable closures were also defined - the latter with corresponding screw caps or sealed swing stoppers. Where modified atmospheres were required, corresponding lid valves were planned. For products that require plastic packaging for reasons of shelf life, bio-based PE is used, e.g. for fresh fish and meat.

In addition, all products, whether perishable like cream cheese or long-lasting like rice, are available in multiple pack sizes. Smaller pack sizes ensure that the contents are used up and not thrown away at home. To prevent the price structure from tempting customers to buy larger packs, prices are set in proportion to the contents.

The most important supermarket and drugstore products have been assigned packaging together with closures

Different materials were studied and ranked in terms of weight as well as ecological backpack in order to make the most sustainable and convenient choice for the consumer.

The reduced range of materials for the packaging containers on the bridges includes chemically tempered glass and thin stainless steel, as well as polyethylene (PE) for those products for whose protection or shelf life a plastic is absolutely necessary.

Appropriate packaging material options and closure types have been defined for common drugstore items

All food products have also been assigned suitable packaging: made of robust, lightweight glass, enameled stainless steel or bio-based PE

Experts on the Topic

Eurofins Lebensmittelverpackungen und Lebensmittelkontaktmaterialien - Wageningen University & Research - Züricher Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften Forschungsgruppe Lebensmittelverpackungen - BFSV Verpackungsinstitut Hamburg

For fruits and vegetables, the best solution remains: avoid packaging

Even insensitive fruits and vegetables are often packaged in plastic to facilitate the checkout process by portioning them or to get rid of less attractive fruits or vegetables by packing them together with better specimens.

Therefore, in the case of insensitive products (e.g. tubers, apples etc.), the shops on the Frankfurt Bridges do not have the small-part consumer packaging; only the wholesale packaging for transport from the point of harvest to the point of sale remains.

The delicate varieties of fruits and vegetables are sold in sturdy trays of different sizes (similar to the cardboard trays commonly used today) pressed from leftover renewable raw materials (e.g. orange residues, cacao bean husk etc.)

Another option for fruit and vegetables: collecting individual pieces in reusable nets

Whether made of hemp and organic cotton, nets are a good solution if consumers are willing to bring them with them when they shop and wash them at home at appropriate intervals.

They are less suitable as reusable nets, since a washing cycle after each use would be more energy-intensive than the provision of thin PE bags, which are produced from vegetable waste and can be used in a thermally climate-neutral manner under CO2 filtering. In the case of textiles, unlike glass or stainless steel, sterility cannot be achieved by brief high-heating or UV irradiation, but only by a comprehensive washing process - with negative consequences for the service life and the ecological footprint.

In addition, especially some vegetables can be transported more protected with a film-like protection and keep longer at home, which reduces the rate of throwing them away.

On the Frankfurt Bridges there is an option for delicate vegetables and fruits to be packed in thin PE bags

Thin bags are often not necessary in the supermarket. But there are also cases where a large number of individual parts would otherwise roll around in the shopping cart, for example mirabelles or Brussels sprouts. Still others vegetables have tender leaves that could be crushed in the shopping cart, such as chard or pak choi.

For these fruits and vegetables packaging bag dispensers with PE bags of different sizes are also available in supermarkets on the bridges.

A variety of products - everything from rice to pickles - can be packed in standard containers: This does affeect the diversity and breadth of the assortment

To avoid waste due to suboptimal packaging, not only packaging materials but also package sizes are adjusted product by product

Grocery stores on the Frankfurt Bridges also have products that require refrigeration such as cold cuts, minced meat or fish fillets.

They are packaged in bio-based polyethylene, which is included in the sustainable disposal process.

Different packaging sizes are planned for all products:

After all, spontaneity is a big factor in shopping - and food that ends up being thrown away because you initially buy a package of it that is actually too big, but soon don't feel like it anymore, means a waste of raw materials and energy.

Especially with perishable foods, smaller portion sizes can help save energy and CO2

More packaging can keep goods fresh much longer and thus prevent spoilage.

For example, fresh cheese is more likely to be eaten whole if it is packaged in smaller portions.

While this requires more packaging material, less food is wasted. In fact, the CO₂ savings of the avoided food waste is greater than the CO₂ expense of the additional packaging.

However, small portion sizes make sense primarily for perishable products such as cream cheese, and not for honey, which keeps for many months.

Supermarkets must permanently dispose of expired food - however, more than half of the waste occurs in private households

Why can't supermarkets simply distribute products that are expired but still digestible, but must dispose of them? The problem is that stores are responsible for food they put into circulation. They can be held liable if someone gets sick after eating an expired food that has been put into circulation.

In France, things have been different since 2015: there, supermarkets with an area of more than 400 square meters not only have to enter into cooperation agreements with non-profit organizations, they are also prohibited from throwing away expired food or rendering it inedible.

However, supermarkets, restaurants and even industry are not the biggest wasters: private household consumers are responsible for over 50%. Germans throw away just under 80 kilograms of food per capita every year: that corresponds to 220 grams per day.

Likewise, variety and spontaneity can only be served with smaller packaging sizes

The trend towards smaller or single households means that a lot of food cannot be used up because it is no longer possible to prepare food for several people.

Added to this is the demand for a varied and spontaneous menus.

Both factors contribute to the fact that food is often left lying around until it spoils.

Food in large packages is more likely to be thrown away because it is not used before the expiration date. It also happens that the rest in the package, although still durable, has become unsightly because the package was open too long.

The expansion of smaller package sizes on the Frankfurt Bridges will counteract food waste for these reasons.

For products that only taste really good when fresh, small package sizes are extremely important to avoid throwing away leftovers

Bread, as we all know, tastes best when bought fresh, and fruit that is ripe and sweet when purchased is also best consumed within a few days. Simply buying smaller quantities (preferably without traditional packaging) is the most important lever for avoiding food waste with such products. Correct storage also contributes to longer life and therefore edibility for many products.

With meat and dairy products, on the other hand, smaller packaging in particular helps to avoid food waste and thus contributes most to sustainability.

Therefore, all supermarkets on the Frankfurt Bridges always offer small package sizes, as well

For each product, it is necessary to differentiate exactly which packaging sizes would make sense. Shelf life and quantity consumed per use are particularly important here.

Also, pricing must be proportional to package size; this avoids paying less for the same product in larger packages than in smaller packages, unlike the current practice.

Smaller portion sizes do carry a larger share of packaging and logistics costs in relative terms; but cross-subsidization in assortments is a common practice in the retail business -

most frequently under the aspect that producers want to be "full-range suppliers", i.e. leave less profitable products in their sales range in order not to show any gaps to retailers.

Accordingly, it is also possible to carry out such cross-subsidies with regard to less profitable packaging sizes within an article group.

The bridge supermarket: unpackaged fruit and vegetables, standardized reusable containers made of glass and stainless steel, and bio-based PE packaging - all this in combination with different package sizes is the most sustainable system solution

Conclusion: Packaging materials and closure variants of the bridge packaging system can sustainably cover almost the entire range of supermarket and drugstore products

The Frankfurt Bridges are a neighbourhood on a second level in the City, on which a new packaging system can be created that, despite reducing complexity, can cover ALL packaging requirements for supermarket and drugstore products in a sustainable and CO2 -neutral manner.

The system on the Frankfurt Bridges is designed in such a way that gradually stores in the vicinity of the bridges and the adjacent neighborhoods can join them - and eventually expand to the whole city and other towns, resulting in economies of scale for the packaging concept that can also make it very profitable in the long run.

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