Kaufland starts empty revolution: faster, easier, more sustainable!

Kaufland starts empty revolution: faster, easier, more sustainable!

On April 26, 2025, Kaufland started a new initiative to revolutionize emphasis in his branches. The food dealer introduces innovative deposit machines based on a progressive multi-feed system from Tomra. These machines allow customers to throw in their entire empties in a swing instead of handling bottles and doses individually, which significantly accelerates the submission process. According to Ruhr24 , depending on the amount of the thrown bottles up to five times faster Automats.

A central feature of the new machines is the illuminated touchscreen. This intuitively guides the users through the return process. After the delivery, the empties will be sorted automatically, and customers receive a deposit bon immediately. All of this happens in a fraction of the time that is required in older models.

new locations and extensions

So far, the new deposit machines have already been installed in several German cities. The places include Bornstrasse in Dortmund, Schwieberdinger Straße in Ludwigsburg, Schönauer Straße in Worms and the Landsberger Chaussee in Ahrensfelde. Another machine will be put into operation from mid-May 2025 in the Kaufland branch on Kiev Strasse in Leipzig. The success of the test run in Steinheim led to the decision to use the machines there permanently and to expand the machines there and at further locations, such as Kaufland reported.

This development is not only progress in the field of customer friendliness, but also shows the commitment of Kaufland for sustainability and innovation. Florian Hermanski, responsible for pawn recording systems at Kaufland Germany, emphasizes that the new machines are particularly advantageous for customers who want to return larger amounts of empty. The concept with the new machines has proven itself, so that Kaufland plans to introduce this technology across the board.

Commentary on the future of empty return

Thomas Løstegård, Managing Director of Tomra Systems GmbH, praises Kaufland's efforts to modernize and optimize empties. This is a crucial step to meet all the requirements of the dealers and to offer a comprehensive solution for the return of empties in Germany. The use of the automatic sorting and the possibility of now also returning glass bottles are significantly expanding the portfolio of the accepted empties.

These measures not only benefit the customer, but also contribute to environmental friendliness by facilitating the recycling process. It remains to be seen how quickly the new deposit machines will establish themselves at the other locations and whether competitors such as Aldi, Rewe, Edeka and Netto, which have tested similar systems, will jump on the train. The success of Kaufland's innovative solution could revolutionize the entire deposit system in retail, while the efficiency of the return processes increases.