01
Suppliers delivering into large-scale kitchens
Contract caterers, fresh-food logistics, wholesalers and processors delivering daily into hospital kitchens, staff restaurants, schools, care homes and canteens.
PPWR applies from 12 August 2026 What it means for you
We run your reuse operations, and the number underneath them.
We work out what a cycle really costs, then manage the cleaning, return logistics and partners behind it. We own no wash lines and no vehicles — that is what keeps our read on the numbers independent.
Free, and it commits you to nothing.
Where the experience comes from
- Over 20 years in European reuse operations
- Washing centres planned and commissioned
- Cross-border return networks built and managed
- A source and a date behind every figure
These four describe the founder’s own work before inolarity, not mandates under the inolarity name.
The unit
One cycle: a container goes out full, comes back, is cleaned, and goes out again. Everything we do is about what that costs — and whether it scales.
Who it is for
Built for the B2B food supply chain.
Not for a single restaurant, and not for consumer to-go. For the operations that move food between businesses every day — the ones PPWR gives no percentage, but a full reuse obligation.
02
Operators running several kitchens
Hospital groups, care and education caterers, staff catering and university refectories moving between their own sites and receiving from suppliers.
03
Pool and system operators
Whoever ends up holding the containers and the balancing — or the capital behind them.
From 1 January 2030, transport packaging used to deliver to another economic operator within the same Member State has to be reusable — with no percentage attached (Art. 29(3); Art. 29(2) does the same for movements between an operator’s own sites and with linked or partner enterprises, both subject to the exemptions in Art. 29(4)). Who that covers, and from what size
What arrives every month
One page, and the decisions that follow from it.
Illustrative example — not a client report
Monthly operations report
Example pool · June 2026
- Cost per cycle
- € 1.38+€ 0.13 vs target (€ 1.25)
- Loss rate
- 2.9%within target (≤ 3.0%)
- Wash capacity used
- 82%of contracted capacity
- Cycles completed
- 148,200+4.1% vs May 2026
Cost per cycle, last eight months
Axis € 0.00–€ 1.80 · dashed line = target € 1.25
| Month | Cost per cycle |
|---|---|
| November 2025 | € 1.62 |
| December 2025 | € 1.58 |
| January 2026 | € 1.55 |
| February 2026 | € 1.49 |
| March 2026 | € 1.47 |
| April 2026 | € 1.43 |
| May 2026 | € 1.41 |
| June 2026 | € 1.38 |
What the € 1.38 is made of
June 2026 · shares of one cycle
- Cleaning € 0.61 · 44.2%
- Transport & return € 0.44 · 31.9%
- Shrinkage € 0.19 · 13.8%
- Pool management € 0.14 · 10.1%
Partner performance
On-time = collections and deliveries inside the agreed window, June 2026
| Partner | Role | On-time | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wash centre South | Cleaning | 96.4% | ✓ On track |
| Wash centre West | Cleaning | 88.1% | ! Watch |
| Return logistics DE/AT | Transport | 93.7% | ✓ On track |
| Return logistics NL/BE | Transport | 81.2% | ✕ Action |
What we are doing about it
- Re-tender the NL/BE return legs — two carriers have quoted. inolarity · by 14 August 2026
- Move 12% of wash volume from West to South to cut empty running. Pool manager · by 21 August 2026
- Agree firmer container-return deadlines with the three largest customers. Client commercial · by 4 September 2026
Illustrative figures, built to show the format of the report — not a client result and not a forecast. In a real report every figure carries its source and date: cost model v2026-06 (client volumes, partner invoices, June 2026); loss rate from the pool count of 30 June 2026; shrinkage derived as 2.9% × € 6.55 replacement value per container. Target of € 1.25 agreed at pool level, February 2026.
Before the capital goes in
Three numbers decide whether it works. Most business cases show one.
A reuse system is a working-capital decision before it is a sustainability decision. The cost per cycle is the number everyone models. The other two are the ones that decide whether you can afford to be right.
- Cost per cycle
- € 1.38
- Containers you must own
- 92,000
- Capital tied up in them
- € 602,600
Against a € 1.25 target. The number most plans contain — and usually at its best case.
Cycles per day × return time × buffer. Every extra day of return time adds to this — and you finance it.
Containers × replacement value. Rarely in the business case, always on the balance sheet.
Worked example, on the assumptions shown in the cost model — not a quote and not a client result. Your figures depend on volumes, distances, return rates and how your partners actually perform.
What we take on
Four questions, in the order they usually bite.
Most pools do not fail on ambition. They fail on a cycle cost nobody has ever properly built, and on partners nobody is watching week to week.
-
01
Model
What one cycle costs today, built from the bottom up.
-
02
Design
The operating model your team can actually run.
-
03
Select
The washing and return partners behind the loop.
-
04
Run
The monthly rhythm — and the numbers it produces.
The loop closes: what the month actually costs goes straight back into the model. That is the difference between a business case and an operating model.
Cost per cycle
Most pools know their invoice total. Far fewer know what one cycle costs once cleaning, return kilometres, shrinkage and pool admin sit in the same line. We build that model with your data, then defend it against the real month.
€ 1.38
Worked example above · target € 1.25 · axis € 0.00–€ 1.80
Model your ownOperating model
Where the containers sleep, who cleans them, how they come back and what has to be true for the loop to pay. We design it with your team, not for them — and you keep using it after we leave.
Talk it throughChoosing partners
Cleaning, transport, pool management. We run the tender, read the quotes against the model, and stay in the room when service levels slip. We own no lines and no vehicles, so we have nothing of our own to sell you.
Talk it throughRunning the loop
Once the model works, somebody has to hold it every month: capacity planning, partner performance, cost per cycle, and the decisions that follow. That is the report above.
We are not an asset or pool operator. Today that is the German-speaking markets and the lanes adjoining them. A loop has a radius, not a border.
Why inolarity
Rarely found in one person.
There is no shortage of consultants, sustainability experts or logistics specialists. What is rare is the combination that actually makes a reuse system run — and it is why our answers come from having done the work rather than from a framework.
01
Built the infrastructure
Washing centres planned and brought into operation, and cross-border reuse networks built up across Europe.
02
Ran the operators
Washing partners, logistics providers and pool operations managed day to day — including when service levels slipped.
03
Owned the numbers
Business cases and cost models built and defended, with procurement, operations and supply chain understood from one desk.
Pilot partner
We are taking one pilot partner.
The first mandate under the inolarity name is not yet signed. We would rather carry that risk than ask you to: the pilot is priced lower, not locked in for longer. A long minimum term would hand our start-up risk to the customer, which is the wrong way round.
This is about capacity, not scarcity — one mandate is what we can hold properly alongside building the partner network.
- Mobilisation3–6 months, fixed price, ends by itself
- Operating mandate12 months, then rolling — three months’ notice either way
- Pilot fee25% off our fee for the first twelve months
- In exchangeWe may name you as our reference — once the model is validated, not on signature
- What you keepProcedures, partner agreements, cost model and your data — all yours
- PlacesOne
Engagements
Three ways in, priced before we start.
Every one starts with a free initial conversation: 30 minutes, qualification and the next step. You should know the shape, the length and the cost of the work before you commit to any of it.
1 · First read
2–4 weeks · € 10,500–16,500
We take your volumes, geography and current costs, and come back with what a cycle actually costs today. You also get the three things most likely to break as volume grows. Fixed price, and it commits you to nothing.
2 · Mobilisation & validation
3–6 months · € 28,000–45,000
Operating model, partner selection and a cost model your board can be shown. We work alongside your team and leave you something you can keep running without us.
3 · Operating mandate
Available today
12 months, then rolling
We hold the monthly rhythm: capacity, partners, cost per cycle and the report above. A fee per cycle, with a monthly floor. Our fee is the pool-management line in your own model, not an addition to it. Three months’ notice, either way.
Prices apply to the German-speaking markets, as at July 2026. The operating mandate is quoted against your pool size. PPWR: Regulation (EU) 2025/40 has been in force since 11 February 2025 and applies from 12 August 2026 (Art. 71). From 1 January 2030, Art. 29(1) sets a binding overall reuse target of at least 40% for specified transport packaging; Art. 29(2) and (3) require full reuse for flows between an operator’s own sites, with linked or partner enterprises, and for deliveries to another economic operator within the same Member State — all subject to the exemptions in Art. 29(4). Last verified against the authentic EUR-Lex text on 2 August 2026. General information, not legal advice. What this means operationally
The operational truth behind reuse
Tell us what you are working on.
An initial conversation takes about thirty minutes and costs nothing. We listen, ask a few questions, and tell you honestly whether we are the right people to help.