Design students in Germany have created “the first reusable and closeable” sustainable pizza box.

PIZZycle is a reusable pizza box and a part of a deposit system, which offers value to pizza restaurants, their customers as well as the environment.

PIZZycle – which is made from a 100% recyclable bioplastic – is composed of two identical, round plates, following the outline of a pizza. It can be carried easily, cleaned in the dishwasher and stored efficiently.

The durable, scratch- and heat-resistant material used to create PIZZycle means the sustainable pizza box can be used numerous times.

PIZZycle aims to encourage a circular approach to restaurant packaging. The idea is that restaurants package pizza orders in the PIZZcycle boxes and hand them to the customers in return for a small deposit.

When fulfilled, the customers bring back the boxes to any pizza restaurant that is part of the system to regain their deposit. Whenever the restaurant notices a broken box, they send it back to the factory, where the material will be reintegrated into the manufacturing process.

Common cardboard boxes are not currently recyclable, as the food residue is inseparable from the material.

PIZZycle was born as a uni project during the pandemic by two German design students Luise Hornbach and Marlene Bruch.

PIZZcycle

Rosa Medea is Life & Soul Magazine’s Chief. She writes about lifestyle including sustainable and green living