The reuse revolution started with both reuse campaign supporting the customers to change into reusable containers and a concrete pilot with reusable pizza box.
Ecofellows Ltd. launched a 5-week social media campaign on Instagram from March to April 2025. During the campaign, we dove into the heart of disposable culture and debunked the most common myths about reusable food containers. Throughout the weeks, we explored together what reusable packages are, how they are used, and the direction legislation is guiding industry players and consumers. We aimed to provide information about reusable packages in the most easily understandable way for our followers.
– Our objective was to raise interest, awareness and create approval for reusables in Tampere Region, Finland. The reuse market in food packaging is something new in Finland and needs a push both to consumers and businesses to develop, says Katja Alakerttula, circular economy expert in Regional Circular Economy Development Center, Circular Pirkanmaa, which is operated by Ecofellows Ltd. and project manager in STOPP-project.
The campaign and pilot are part of the international Horizon-funded STOPP project, whose partners will also repeat the social media campaign in Spain, France, and Switzerland during 2025 and piloting in Switzerland and France. The STOPP project (short for “Strategies to prevent and reduce plastic packaging pollution from the food system”) aims to implement circular economy principles in the production and consumption of plastic food packaging. The project is led by the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and involves 13 key partners across Europe, including industry leaders like Braskem, Veolia, and Remondis. Ecofellows Ltd. acts as a partner of the project in extensive consortium cooperation and supports pilot projects carried out with restaurants in the Tampere area, as well as designs consumer campaigns on reuse and recycling.
The reuse revolution started with both reuse campaign supporting the customers to change into reusable containers and a concrete pilot with reusable pizza box.
Busting myths of reusable packaging
Target group for the social media campaign consisted of adults aged 20–45, who live in the city of Tampere, who already make responsible choices, but do not yet understand the importance of reusable packaging as part of their everyday life. They seem to believe, that cardboard packaging is an equally responsible choice, because even single-use food packaging materials are highly recyclable. They needed more understanding of why reusable packaging is worth trying. The format of the social media campaign was to create Instagram carousel posts and Reels videos using guerrilla marketing tools.
Results of the social media campaign
A total of 21 posts were published on EcoFellow’s Instagram during the campaign. Our objective was to engage the audience with our posts, for example, in the form of likes or saves. Our selected indicator was engagement rate by reach (ERR) and the circulation of the campaign. The results were great: we got an average ERR a staggering 6,0 percent.
Our campaign format was to do Instagram carousel posts and Reels-videos: a total of 21 posts were published during the campaign.
Changing the market with reusable pizza boxes
Simultaneously with the social media campaign, the STOPP Consortium, in collaboration with Kotipizza – the largest pizza chain in Finland – launched a pilot with reusable pizza boxes. Kotipizza is the first in Finland to test home delivery where the customer receives their pizza in a reusable pizza box, slides the pizza on their own plate and the courier takes the box back to the restaurant to be washed and used again. The pilot has been carried out with reusable pizza boxes made from high quality plastics that are part of the product range of the Swiss partner reCIRCLE.
– Our products are designed specifically for application in restaurants and they can be washed and reused at least 200 times. This pilot is very interesting for us because it is a novel way of using our products. This way, the consumer does not have to bother with any type of packaging after enjoying their pizza. It seems to be a very convenient way of implementing reusable packaging, says Ursina Haslebacher, project manager from reCIRCLE.
The zero waste pizza box pilot started in 9 selected Kotipizza-restaurants in Tampere Region during March as one of multiple pilots that will be done within STOPP project and will be continued till the end of June.
– If the pizza box could be reused, less packaging waste would be generated, and natural resources would be saved. If every second of our medium-sized pizzas ordered for delivery were in a reusable pizza box, we would reduce emissions from boxes by nearly 30%, says Kotipizza’s sustainability manager Sara Anttila.
The pilot has been a success so far, as over 80 orders have been placed within the first two months, which equals around 7% of the orders that were suitable for the pilot.
– The use of reusable pizza boxes in restaurants has surprised us with its ease. Feedback from the restaurants shows that the use of the reusable boxes in the pilot is faster and more agile than we expected with the current order volumes. The pilot started with orders placed between Monday and Thursday, but based on the effective process and feedback, we expanded the pilot to include weekends, which are generally busier times in our restaurants, continues Sara Anttila.
The pilot has been a success so far, as over 80 orders have been placed within the first two months, which equals around 7% of the orders that were suitable for the pilot.
Why is it important to discuss reusable packages right now?
The new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) will reform the food packaging value chain by 2030. The regulation aims to reduce over-packaging, disposable packages, and increase reusable and refillable packages in the market. The regulation will be applied in member states starting from autumn 2026.
– In just two years, it must be possible to buy takeaway food in your own containers, and in three years, there must be an option to choose a reusable packaging alternative. The new regulation will affect the entire packaging value chain from design to use and collection systems. The change will be visible in consumers’ daily lives, as the goal is that up to 10% of takeaway food will be sold in reusable packages by 2030, says circular economy expert Katja Alakerttula from EcoFellow’s Circular Pirkanmaa.
Reusify research project develops a system enabling the reuse of packaging in Finland
The reuse of food packaging is also being developed in the ambitious Reusify project, which is one of the projects in the SPIRIT programme led by Borealis. In the “Veturi” project funded by Business Finland for leading companies, large retail chains, K group and S group, and major restaurant chains are looking for ways to implement reusable solutions for takeaway food packaging.
– Our goal is to conduct a trial whose results can be widely utilised in takeaway food points in grocery stores and restaurants. Building a reuse system requires cooperation across company boundaries, and this is what we aim for, says Sanna Martin, project manager in Borealis’s SPIRIT programme.
The shift to reuse culture has begun in Tampere Region in Finland. Our next step is to pilot the reusable food packaging with a retailer in Tampere Region. To follow more STOPP news and publications, visit the STOPP project’s website, where you can explore reports produced in the project and publications related to the reuse, recycling, and business frameworks of plastic food packaging.
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