Pantus returnable box scheme replaces disposable containers in the government quarter

In the DSS staff restaurant, around 90,000 disposable containers a year have previously been used in Akersgata 59 alone. Now disposable containers are to be cut out completely. Instead, the focus will be on a deposit scheme for returnable cans.

The project has been named Pantus, and was launched on March 15, 2023. Pantus is a collaborative project between DSS, GRIN and Compass Group, where DSS was the initiator. Norwegian GRIN is behind the technology itself, and the project has also received support from Handelens Miljøfond.

Innovative and exciting

Compass Group is the first company in Norway to deliver this type of scheme. Close and good cooperation with both customer and technology supplier has been important.

- In collaboration with GRIN, we have created an integration with the app we already use in the staff restaurant. Once the deposit scheme has settled down, we can start to measure the real effects. Already on the first day, we had a lot of activity and many returns," says Robert Hovsdal, Digitalization & Innovation Manager at Compass Group Norway.

- And most importantly, we had zero waste from disposable packaging," he says.

Great waste reduction

The goal is to reduce waste from the entire departmental community. DSS has an environmental goal to reduce the total amount of waste by 20 percent by 2025, compared to 2018. A returnable box scheme will in all likelihood have a large and positive effect on this goal.

- The returnable boxes will be washed and reused. The lifespan is between 800 to 1,000 uses, as long as they are used as intended. Using metal cutlery will drastically shorten the life of the can. That's why we provide bamboo cutlery with the cans. The material from which the returnable boxes are made can also be recycled in its entirety," Hovsdal adds.

Waste is also expensive. By getting rid of waste from 90,000 disposable containers a year, you not only save the environment, but also large costs related to waste management.

Low-threshold deposit scheme

When ministry employees take food home from the staff restaurant, they are given a returnable box for which they pay NOK 75. After use, they deposit the return box in the "Pantus" reverse vending machine and get the amount back in their mobile app. After depositing the returnable box, employees can pick up a new returnable box the next time, at no extra cost. The scheme only requires a deposit that is refunded when the customer steps out of it.

- It will still be possible to eat food from china in the restaurant itself. It is if you are going to take food outside the restaurant area that you will have to use the return box. This is the purpose for which we have used disposable containers in the past," says Environmental Manager Liana Lan Nguyen at DSS.

The returnable box scheme with a deposit system for takeaway food is currently a test project, but with ambitions to make it permanent.

- We have invested a lot of resources in the project and in communicating with employees. For example, the superhero "Pantus" has been given his own comic book with several strips to give the character both character and personality. The hope is that "Pantus" will be a success, that we can continue to save the environment from waste and to show that we in the public sector are taking responsibility with circular solutions," concludes Environmental Manager Nguyen.