Return-to-Retail: the collection model for effective deposit return systems

May 05, 20261 min read

2025 was an important year for circularity, not through dramatic breakthroughs, but through decisive groundwork. It was a year of structural progress: policies were reinforced, systems were approved, and long-term infrastructure decisions were locked in.

Summary:

This progress was reflected in continued political backing for the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and in the rollout, or confirmed plans, for deposit return systems (DRS) across multiple countries. At the same time, the lack of agreement at INC 5.2 showed that global alignment remains complex

Against this backdrop, 2026 becomes the year where preparation turns into execution. These are TOMRA’s predictions for how the circular economy evolves next.

Tech trend #1: Circularity becomes core industrial strategy

In 2026, circularity moves from aspiration to execution, embedded directly into industrial and economic strategy.

Driven by climate targets, material scarcity, competitiveness, and growing geopolitical tension around resource imports, leading businesses and regions begin treating circularity as a core operational necessity rather than a sustainability add-on.

Circularity is increasingly understood as:

A productivity lever, extracting more value from the same materials
A risk-management tool, reducing exposure to supply shock
A regulatory requirement, shaped by PPWR, Circular Economy Act , and EU CSRD sectoral standards.
A major step forward is the Global Circularity Protocol (GCP) , which becomes the first widely tested framework for measuring and comparing circularity performance across industries.

As a result, companies can integrate circularity KPIs into financial reporting, expand transition plans from CO₂-only to CO₂ plus resources, invest in regional recycling and recovery infrastructure, and deploy digital systems for real-time material accounting.

Tech trend #1: Circularity becomes core industrial strategy

In 2026, circularity moves from aspiration to execution, embedded directly into industrial and economic strategy.

Tech trend #1

Automation in food systems moves beyond grading and sorting in 2026, expanding into full-chain quality optimization. Advanced systems now detect contaminants and defects with near-laboratory accuracy, redirect products to the highest-value destination, predict spoilage risk through AI pattern recognition, and reduce labour dependency in high-cost markets.

Tech trend #2

Tech trend #3

Tech trend #1: Circularity becomes core industrial strategy

In 2026, circularity moves from aspiration to execution, embedded directly into industrial and economic strategy.

Driven by climate targets, material scarcity, competitiveness, and growing geopolitical tension around resource imports, leading businesses and regions begin treating circularity as a core operational necessity rather than a sustainability add-on.

Driven by climate targets, material scarcity, competitiveness, and growing geopolitical tension around resource imports, leading businesses and regions begin treating circularity as a core operational necessity rather than a sustainability add-on.

Circularity is increasingly understood as:

A productivity lever, extracting more value from the same materials
A risk-management tool, reducing exposure to supply shock
A regulatory requirement, shaped by PPWR, Circular Economy Act , and EU CSRD sectoral standards.
A major step forward is the Global Circularity Protocol (GCP) , which becomes the first widely tested framework for measuring and comparing circularity performance across industries.