How to optimize a sanitization facility for reusable takeaway packaging
A complete guide drawing on TOMRA's real-world experience in building and operating city-scale reuse systems
As the shift toward reusable takeaway packaging accelerates across Europe, the importance of efficient, scalable sanitization facilities becomes increasingly clear. These facilities are the operational backbone of any reuse system, ensuring that packaging can be safely returned, cleaned, and redistributed at the speed and scale required by modern food service environments.
With the EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) now in force — mandating that restaurants and cafes must offer consumers the option to use their own containers by 2027 and provide reusable packaging for takeaway by 2028 — cities, venues, and operators are looking for proven models to follow. The question is no longer whether to implement reuse, but how to make it work efficiently and at scale.
A well-optimized sanitization facility does more than maintain hygiene standards. It enables cost efficiency, supports high return rates, and minimizes environmental impact. Achieving this, however, requires careful planning across every stage — from initial design to ongoing operations and continuous improvement.
This guide draws on TOMRA's direct experience in designing, building, and operating sanitization facilities for its reusable packaging systems, including REUSEABLE in Aarhus, Denmark, and CopoMais in Lisbon, Portugal — two of Europe's most advanced city-scale reuse deployments. Over the course of more than two years of operations in Aarhus, TOMRA has collected more than 1.8 million reusable cups, achieved an average return rate of 88%, and gained extensive practical insight into what it takes to run a sanitization operation that keeps packaging in continuous, reliable circulation.
Establishing the facility: Building a scalable foundation
Establishing a sanitization facility begins with defining the scope and ambition of the reuse system it will support. Whether the facility serves a single venue, a network of restaurants, or an entire municipality will fundamentally shape its design and capacity requirements.
Early planning must take into account expected packaging volumes, both under normal conditions and during peak demand periods. In TOMRA's experience operating the REUSEABLE system in Aarhus, seasonal fluctuations can be significant — during Aarhus Festuge, the city's annual cultural festival, over 150,000 REUSEABLE cups were sold in just 10 days. These kinds of peak volumes must be anticipated and planned for from the outset, as they directly influence everything from equipment selection to staffing models.
At the same time, the facility must be integrated with the broader return infrastructure, ensuring that reusable packaging collected through automated return machines or manual collection systems can flow seamlessly into the cleaning process. This integration is critical: in Aarhus, TOMRA operates 25+ fixed automated collection points and another 2-15 temporary machine installations in connection with various city events across the city center, all feeding into a centralized sanitization hub.
Regulatory considerations also play a critical role at this stage. Food safety standards, wastewater management requirements, and occupational health regulations must be understood and incorporated into the facility design from the outset. With the PPWR now setting a clear regulatory trajectory for reusable packaging systems across Europe, aligning facility design with both current and anticipated compliance requirements is essential.
Location: Enabling efficiency through proximity
The physical location of a sanitization facility has a direct impact on both operational efficiency and environmental performance. Facilities positioned close to the areas they serve — such as dense restaurant districts, transport hubs, or event venues — benefit from shorter transport distances and faster turnaround times.
TOMRA's experience in both Aarhus and Lisbon underscores this principle. In Lisbon, where the CopoMais reusable cup system operates across the Bairro Alto entertainment district and surrounding neighborhoods, proximity between collection points and the sanitization facility is essential for maintaining fast cup turnaround in a high-volume nightlife environment where an estimated 25,000 cups are used on busy evenings. A satellite storage facility for the reusable packaging located in close proximity to the sales locations is also utilized to allow fast and efficient delivery.
Equally important is access to reliable transport infrastructure. Efficient routing of collection and delivery vehicles depends on good road connectivity, while sufficient space must be available for loading and unloading operations. Utilities such as water supply, energy capacity, and drainage infrastructure are also critical, as they directly affect the performance of washing systems.
Selecting a site with the potential for future expansion can further support long-term system growth. As adoption of reusable on-the-go packaging increases — driven by both consumer demand and regulatory mandates such as the PPWR — facilities must be able to scale accordingly without requiring complete relocation. This applies to both washing facilities and warehouse storage capacity for clean packaging.
Management and staffing: Structuring for consistency and quality
Operational success depends not only on infrastructure but also on the people who run it. A well-managed sanitization facility relies on clear roles, defined responsibilities, and strong coordination between teams.
Management functions typically oversee daily operations, ensure compliance with regulations, and drive performance improvements. At the same time, trained operators handle the technical aspects of washing equipment, while quality assurance personnel monitor hygiene standards and product integrity.
In TOMRA's city-scale deployments, the sanitization team works in close coordination with logistics and field operations staff. Staffing models must be aligned with demand patterns, which often fluctuate throughout the day or across seasons. Flexible shift structures help match labor capacity with incoming volumes, while consistent training ensures that all staff adhere to hygiene protocols and operational procedures. Together, these elements create a stable and reliable operational environment that can sustain the high throughput required by a circular reusable packaging system.
With a reusable packaging system for food and drinks, you have to be prepared operationally to adjust to the volume peaks and valleys associated with seasonal and large demand factors such as city events. It is important therefore to have a good mix of permanent, part-time and temporary employees to handle volume fluctuations, so you have the flexibility to employ the right people at the right place at the right time.” Aarhus Field Site Manager, TOMRA Reuse
Equipment procurement: Designing for performance and flexibility
The selection of equipment is one of the most significant decisions in facility design, as it determines both capacity and efficiency. Washing systems must be capable of handling projected volumes while delivering consistent cleaning performance across different types of packaging.
Rather than focusing solely on maximum throughput, facilities benefit from balancing performance with flexibility. Reusable packaging systems often involve a range of packaging formats — in Aarhus, for example, the REUSEABLE system initially focused on cups and glasses, with plans to expand into food packaging using new collection machines capable of accepting both reusable beverage cups and food containers. Equipment must be able to accommodate these variations without compromising efficiency.
Energy and water consumption are equally important considerations. Selecting systems that minimize resource use can significantly reduce operating costs and environmental impact over time. Using an efficient water recirculation system, the washing line utilized at TOMRA Reuse Sanitization Hub in Aarhus uses just 0.5 deciliters of water per cup. In contrast, the production of equivalent single-use paper cups uses about 2.5 deciliters per cup. Further, a study conducted by Eunomia in 2023 found that reusable cups for warm and cold drinks could achieve lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to single-use paper cups if the reuse system achieved a return rate of at least 83% and at least six cup rotations. With REUSEABLE Aarhus achieving an 88% return rate and individual cups completing over 40 loops, the environmental case for optimized washing infrastructure is clear.
At the same time, reliability and ease of maintenance are essential to ensure high uptime and avoid disruptions to packaging circulation.
A challenging area we have encountered within the solutions currently provided by the industrial dishwashing industry, is washing small items such as cup lids, dip bowls, cutlery etc. Another challenge is being able to handle the mix of both cups and food containers. Food containers require different washing procedures, and we’re still looking into how to optimize this in collaboration with the industrial dishwashing industry.”
Operations: Creating a seamless process flow
Once operational, the facility must function as a continuous, well-coordinated flow. Used packaging is first received and sorted before undergoing washing and sanitization. Following the cleaning process, items are dried, inspected, and prepared for redistribution.
Each stage must be carefully designed to minimize delays and unnecessary handling. Layout plays a key role here, as inefficient movement between steps can quickly create bottlenecks. Facilities that prioritize linear, streamlined workflows typically achieve higher throughput and lower operational costs.
The TOMRA Reuse open managed system powering both REUSEABLE in Aarhus and CopoMais in Lisbon, provides the digital backbone for tracking reusable packaging throughout the entire process: storage, delivery, return, washing and quality assurance, deposit activation, number of cup rotations, and should any packaging need to discarded and recycled, the reason for this. Each piece of packaging carries a unique serialized identifier (QR code or RFID), enabling operators to monitor performance and ensure that quality standards are consistently met for every reuse rotation.
This digital traceability is not just an operational convenience — it is increasingly a regulatory expectation, as the PPWR requires greater transparency and data reporting on packaging reuse performance.
Packaging assortment and ordering systems: Managing complexity
Reuse systems often rely on multiple packaging types, such as cups, bowls, and lids. Managing this assortment requires both physical standardization and digital coordination.
Standardizing packaging formats wherever possible simplifies washing processes and reduces logistical complexity and storage capacity requirements. At the same time, digital ordering systems allow participating businesses to request the packaging they need, ensuring availability without excessive stock. In TOMRA's systems, participating venues can order reusable packaging through a convenient online ordering platform, and all delivered packaging is quality assured as safe and hygienic, with each item's unique digital code activated for the deposit return incentive upon delivery.
By connecting inventory data with ordering and return flows, facilities can better predict demand and maintain optimal stock levels. This prevents shortages that could disrupt service, while also avoiding overproduction that ties up resources unnecessarily.
Logistics: Keeping packaging in circulation
Logistics is the connective tissue that links collection, cleaning, and redistribution. Without efficient logistics, even the most advanced sanitization facility cannot perform effectively.
Collection systems must ensure that used packaging is returned quickly and reliably, whether through automated return points or manual pick-ups. In Aarhus, TOMRA's network of 25+ automated return machines across the inner city ensures convenient access for consumers, while in Lisbon, CopoMais return points are strategically placed in the areas with the highest concentration of bars and restaurants.
Optimizing logistics involves careful route planning and coordination. Aligning pick-up and delivery schedules, consolidating transport flows, and using data to anticipate return volumes all contribute to smoother operations. In some cases, logistics also includes maintaining and cleaning the return infrastructure, ensuring that collection systems remain functional and accessible.
It is also important to maintain a sustainability mindset in all aspects of the logistical operations. In Aarhus, an electric vehicle is used to deliver and pick up all packaging, as well as reusable transport bins for the packaging and reusable bags for the collection bins.
Each day we look at both the incoming orders from the retail partners, and the volume of returns at our automated collection machines. Then we make the operational plan for the day, to ensure we’re executing the most efficient way to both deliver and pick up packaging around the city that day.”
Quality assurance and deposit activation: Ensuring trust and accountability
Maintaining high hygiene standards is essential for user confidence in reusable packaging systems. Quality assurance processes therefore play a central role, with packaging inspected visually and through periodic testing to ensure compliance with food safety requirements.
In TOMRA's experience, consumer trust is built through consistent, verifiable quality. In a survey of Aarhus residents conducted by the municipality in conjunction with Epinion, 84% of users said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the REUSEABLE system — and satisfaction levels increased the more frequently the system was used. This finding suggests that when consumers trust the hygiene and quality of the reusable packaging they receive, the added effort of returning packaging is not in itself a barrier to adoption.
Alongside physical quality checks, digital systems enable tracking of packaging throughout its lifecycle. Deposit activation mechanisms allow each item to be registered, monitored, and linked to a return incentive. The TOMRA Reuse platform provides full digital control of operational data and deposit cash flows, with serialization used to activate and deactivate deposit value on each individual piece of reusable packaging.
These systems not only support positive consumer behavior but also improve asset tracking and reduce losses. By combining physical inspection with digital oversight, facilities can ensure both safety and accountability across the entire circular reusable packaging system.
Inspections and health & safety approvals: Operating within regulatory frameworks
Sanitization facilities operate within a strict regulatory environment, where compliance is non-negotiable. From food safety certifications to environmental standards and workplace safety regulations, facilities must meet a range of requirements before and during operation.
This regulatory landscape is evolving. The PPWR, which entered into force in February 2025 and applies from August 2026, introduces harmonized EU-wide rules on packaging sustainability, recyclability, and reuse. For sanitization facilities, this means not only meeting existing food safety and environmental standards, but also being prepared to demonstrate compliance with new packaging reuse reporting requirements. The regulation mandates that all packaging placed on the EU market must be recyclable by 2030 and sets ambitious waste reduction targets — 15% per capita by 2040.
Engaging with regulatory authorities early in the process helps streamline approvals and reduce the risk of delays. Once operational, facilities must maintain thorough documentation and be prepared for inspections or audits at any time.
Ongoing training ensures that staff remain aware of requirements and follow established protocols. This continuous focus on compliance helps maintain both operational integrity and public trust — an essential ingredient for the long-term success of any reuse system.
Optimizing for efficiency and sustainability: Continuous improvement
Optimization does not end once a facility is operational. Instead, it becomes an ongoing process of refinement and improvement.
TOMRA's two-year journey with REUSEABLE in Aarhus illustrates this well. A master's thesis study on the environmental optimization of the REUSEABLE system identified several areas for improvement, including enhancements to cup collection containers for better usability and durability, improved QR code design for better wayfinding to return points, and a scalable model for potential national implementation. These kinds of iterative improvements — informed by real operational data — are what distinguish a good sanitization facility from a great one.
Efficiency gains can be achieved through better layout design, increased automation, and the use of operational data to identify and address potential improvement areas. At the same time, sustainability improvements can significantly reduce environmental impact. These may include water recycling systems, energy-efficient washing technologies, and the integration of renewable energy sources. Transport optimization also plays a key role. Reducing distances and improving route efficiency lowers both costs and emissions, reinforcing the overall sustainability of the reuse system.
Ultimately, the goal is to maximize the number of reuse cycles each piece of packaging can achieve — in Aarhus, some cups have completed over 40 loops — while minimizing resource consumption throughout the process.
Conclusion: Scaling reuse through optimized infrastructure
Sanitization facilities are at the heart of scalable reusable packaging systems. When designed and operated effectively, they enable seamless circulation of reusable on-the-go packaging, supporting both economic and environmental goals.
TOMRA's experience across city-scale deployments in Aarhus and Lisbon — as well as at major events and venues across Europe — has demonstrated that well-optimized sanitization infrastructure is not just a technical requirement, but a competitive advantage. With more than 1.8 million cups collected in Aarhus alone and a return rate that has climbed to 88%, the operational model is proven and ready to scale.
As Simon Rossau, Project Manager for Circular Packaging Systems at Aarhus Municipality, noted when the REUSEABLE system won the European Reusable Award:
"TOMRA has been such an integral part in developing and managing this system... It's so important to have this public-private partnership in developing circular systems. You cannot do one without the other." — Simon Rossau, Project Manager, Aarhus Municipality
By carefully considering location, equipment, operations, logistics, and quality control, organizations can transform sanitization facilities into highly efficient systems that underpin successful reuse programs. As reuse continues to expand across cities and regions — accelerated by the PPWR and growing consumer demand — the optimization of these facilities will play an increasingly important role in delivering circular packaging solutions that are both practical and sustainable.
Would you like to learn more about how TOMRA can help you build and optimize reuse infrastructure for your city or venue?
Contact TOMRA Reuse to start the conversation.
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