What is more sustainable in HORECA: recycling or using returnable packaging?

A decision that impacts your image as a distributor

More and more bars, restaurants and hotels care about the sustainability of their supply chain. For a HORECA wholesaler, choosing the right suppliers of water, beer and soft drinks does not just affect the planet: it also strengthens the distribution business's image with its customers. The key question is: what makes more sense, supporting the recycling of single-use packaging or committing to returnable packaging? The answer depends on some very specific factors that are worth knowing.

Quick recommendation

1. Most sustainable: steel beer kegs and soft drink tanks. They last for years, are reused dozens or hundreds of times and are easily recycled at the end of their life.
2. Good option: returnable glass, provided the bottle is reused at least 20–25 times and the return logistics are efficient (making use of lorries' return journeys).
3. Reasonable alternatives: aluminium cans with a high recycled content and PET plastic bottles made with rPET (recycled plastic).
4. Last resort: single-use glass, even if it is recycled, because it is heavy and takes a lot of energy to manufacture again.

How the sustainability of packaging is measured

To compare packaging, it is not enough to look at whether it is recycled or not. Experts use what is known as life-cycle analysis: studying the packaging's whole life, from manufacture, transport and use through to reuse, recycling or disposal. With this complete view, you can see that: returnable glass wins on sustainability when it is reused many times and does not generate empty journeys. Single-use glass, even when recycled, always starts at a disadvantage because of its weight and the heat needed to melt it down again. Aluminium cans are competitive because they are widely recycled with great energy savings. PET plastic with rPET (recycled) is lighter and can be a better option than single-use glass.

What is happening in Spain

Coca-Cola: its returnable glass bottles are designed to be reused up to 25 times.
Estrella Damm: states that its bottles can exceed 30 reuses and that around 65% of its packaging in the hospitality sector is returnable.
Mahou San Miguel: reports that over 80% of what it sells to the hospitality sector is reusable.
Vichy Catalan: offers returnable packaging, although it does not publish reuse figures.
In addition, Spain has 13 glass treatment plants spread across the country, which brings recycling of single-use bottles closer to wholesalers. As for collection, drinks cans exceed 70%, while PET plastic bottles are still at around 40%, with improvement expected in the coming years thanks to the deposit return scheme.

Questions you should ask your suppliers

To make well-informed decisions and pass them on to your customers, ask manufacturers for clear information on: the actual number of reuses their bottles achieve. The percentage of bottles returned versus those lost or broken. Water and energy consumption in the washing processes. The percentage of recycled glass in single-use bottles. The percentage of recycled aluminium in cans. The percentage of recycled plastic (rPET) in PET bottles. How they organise return logistics to ensure there are no empty journeys.

Conclusion

In the HORECA sector, the best bet is to prioritise reuse: kegs and tanks first, followed by returnable glass bottles with enough life cycles and good return logistics. When these requirements cannot be guaranteed, lean towards aluminium cans with high recycled content or PET bottles with rPET, leaving single-use glass as a last resort. Most importantly: do not buy blindly. Demand clear data from your suppliers on reuse, recycling and resource consumption. That way you can make more sustainable decisions and show your customers that your distribution business is meeting the demands of the future.

A final question

And now that you have read this far, here comes the important part: your competitiveness in the market. So let me ask you a question:

is it sustainable for your company to apply all this?

Because, as you know, if your prices are not good and all this sustainability ruins you because you are not selling, none of it is any use to you.