Lea Bienert

CU Mehrweg is building the future of sustainable food packaging — by replacing single-use plastics with a scalable, standardized reuse system. We offer “Reuse as a Service” for food brands and retailers: products are filled into standardized reusable containers, labeled, and placed on shelves like any other prepackaged product. After consumption, consumers return the containers via standard reverse vending machines (“Pfandautomaten”). We manage the entire reverse logistics chain — including collection, cleaning, quality inspection, and digital tracking. Our pooling solution ensures full transparency over packaging flows, usage cycles, and CO₂ savings — enabling measurable impact and helping partners meet ESG and regulatory goals. CU Mehrweg is already live in the German retail market with REWE and EDEKA, and trusted by food brands such as Seeberger, Bohlsener Mühle, Müller’s Mühle, and Sunflower Family. In June 2025, we’re launching a major pilot with a well-known international confectionery brand — and have many more leading food brands in our pipeline preparing to join the system. The timing is ideal: the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is setting ambitious reuse and recycling quotas and pushing for mandatory infrastructure to reduce single-use waste across Europe. Retailers and manufacturers urgently need scalable, proven solutions — and CU delivers exactly that. Our system integrates seamlessly into existing retail and deposit infrastructures, making reuse as simple and measurable as single use — but radically more sustainable. CU is on a mission to bring circular packaging to the mainstream — cost-efficient, data-driven, and ready to scale.