CIRKLA – A Groundbreaking Project for Circular E-commerce Packaging

The project is led by ASTER – Alliance for Sustainable E-commerce and is funded by Vinnova. Participating partners include Brightnest, Bring, Early Bird, Gina Tricot, GS1, the Stockholm School of Economics (HHS), ICA Paket, Instabee, Nelly.com, RePack, Plick, Stadium, and Svensk Handel. CIRKLA started on 8 November 2024 and will run until 30 April 2026.

How CIRKLA Works
CIRKLA aims to address critical issues for creating a circular system for e-commerce packaging through pilots and analyses. The focus is on three main aspects:

• Logistics: How should flows and collection be organised?
• Consumer behaviour: How can users be motivated to participate in circular solutions?
• System support: What physical and digital tools are needed to enable communication and collaboration among actors?

Test Flows That Generate Insights
CIRKLA conducts pilots to test and evaluate five different types of return flows:

• Home collection: Consumers place the packaging outside their door or in their mailbox for collection.
• Nearby parcel lockers: The packaging is returned to a nearby parcel locker by the consumer or a service provider.
• Physical stores: The packaging is returned to a store near the consumer.
• Returns at ICA: The packaging is returned at the local ICA store.
• Circular packaging for sales: A private individual selling an item places it in a parcel locker. The item is packed in reusable packaging by Instabee, sent to the recipient, and the packaging is returned to the system without the consumer having to handle it.

Goals and Future Vision
The goal of CIRKLA is to develop solutions that are commercially scalable and inspire others to implement circular flows and business models. By engaging the entire value chain – from consumers to transport companies and retailers – the project aims to pave the way for sustainable e-commerce.

The project runs from 8 November 2024 to 30 April 2026 and involves several prominent industry actors, such as Brightnest, Bring, Early Bird, Gina Tricot, GS1, the Stockholm School of Economics (HHS), ICA Paket, Instabee, Nelly.com, RePack, Plick, Stadium, Svensk Handel, and Postnord.

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