Bepakt

Bepakt is an independent think-tank and open knowledge platform on the topic of zero-waste (packaging-free) grocery stores / supermarkets. Since 2014, we have been actively maintaining the most comprehensive international database on this niche. Early 2019, we listed 350+ zero-waste grocery stores and 80+ of their crowdfunding campaigns. Additionally, we wrote articles to demystify topics such as ocean plastics, recycling and the history of the supermarket. Bepakt’s mission is to help reduce consumer (food) packaging waste by empowering the niche of zero-waste (packaging-free) grocery stores / supermarkets – and its stakeholders – with comprehensive open data. Zero-Waste Grocery Stores – Their main advantages 🌎 Precycling: avoidance of (packaging) waste generation at the source. Why produce packaging when it isn’t necessary? Packaging waste prevention has significant advantages over recycling and other forms of waste management: it prevents waste from ending up in nature due to accidental release or waste mismanagement. It thereby prevents harm to our ecosystem. 🌎 Food waste reduction: zero-waste grocery stores allow customers to buy the exact amount of food they need, thus avoiding excesses (source: Unwrapped, 2018). Also the lack of packaging gives freedom of choice to clients about how much product to buy (e.g. not being obliged to buy 500gr pasta or 375gr of cereals). 🌎 Return to human relations in grocery stores: the small size of zero-waste stores, their neighbourhood-focused nature, their customer experience, their product typology (mostly local and organic, where everything is known about the producer), as well as their lack of packaging, inevitably lead to the necessity to exchange some words in the shop. Here, the shop assistant is a key figure in the shop, a point of reference for clients. 🌎 Prevent endocrine (hormone) disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which are released by for example the plastic coating inside of tin food cans.