In this year-end special, we rewind through an eventful 2025—the year that Reloop turned ten and The Reloop Brief began. Host, Barry Snedden revisits standout moments from the season: activist Merijn “Plastic Soup Surfer” Tinga live from his paddleboard; Jackie Núñez on moving beyond “straws” to system change; Reloop CEO Clarissa Morawski on hard data proving deposits cut beverage litter; Data & Dashboard Manager Jason Wilcox on turning evidence into action with “What We Waste” and the "Global Deposit Dashboard", as well as Reloop Pacific’s Rob Kelman on Australia becoming the first continent fully covered by deposit systems—and what it takes to keep return rates high.

From grassroots sparks to policy implementation, the episode threads one story: credible data + citizen pressure + informed policy = circular outcomes.

In this episode, Barry Snedden takes us behind the scenes with Jason Wilcox, Reloop’s Data & Dashboard Manager, to see how evidence turns into action. Jason explains the goals of Reloop's two live dashboards — What We Waste and the Global Deposit Dashboard. They discuss the work that goes into building these interactive tools: consolidating disparate spreadsheets, analysing from a “bird’s-eye view” to reveal patterns, and then using simple visuals to tell a clear story, backed by transparent, clickable sources for each data point. Jason also provides a sneak peek at his next build, aiming to quantify which policies most effectively cut litter.

Spain is on the cusp of introducing a national deposit return system for beverage containers by 2026. In this episode, Barry Snedden sits down with Miquel Roset, Director of Retorna, to discuss what must happen next to deliver the DRS on time. They also touch on Portugal’s newly announced DRS start date and why Iberian momentum matters, Retorna’s work co-founding the Global DRS Platform to support deposits across the Global South, and a preview of Madrid’s upcoming Global Conference of Experts - a first-rate gathering of system operators, NGOs, governments and industry to swap lessons and discuss best practice.

For this episode, we visit France as Shraddha Kumar checks in with Reloop’s Director for France and Francophonie, Alexis Eisenberg.

Together, they cover why a national deposit return system is still pending, how a major pilot is rolling out across four regions, and what Reloop's Tour de France de la consigne revealed about the future of reuse and recycling.

Plus, how the EU’s new packaging rules (PPWR) fit with France’s own targets — and whether a mixed DRS could be the way forward.

To mark Reloop’s 10th anniversary EU Green Week event—Reloop Unpacks—we asked participants two simple questions: What will the next 10 years bring for the circular economy and for Reloop? What were your key takeaways?

In this recap, you’ll hear insights from conference attendees, from Deutsche Umwelthilfe, Fair Resource Foundation, Eunomia, and Retorna. Themes converge on a practical roadmap: design for prevention and reuse, make consumer returns effortless (retail take-back), fund with robust EPR, measure with shared, transparent tools, and scale successes globally, especially through North–South collaboration.

In this episode of the Reloop Brief, Shraddha Kumar catches up with Reloop's Director for the Pacific, Rob Kelman, on the latest from Australia.

With several states expanding existing schemes to include wine & spirit bottles in container deposit schemes (and what that means for curbside costs and glass quality), to Tasmania’s strong early returns (~30 million containers since May 2025) and why refund value and retail take-back matter for engagement. The discussion also touches on South Australia’s ban on the tiny soy-sauce fish and the case for a robust, national EPR for packaging.

In this special episode of the Reloop Brief, we listen in on the Reloop Unpacks conference held in Brussels in June 2025. Clarissa Morawski moderates a fast-moving panel on how digital and AI tools are reshaping the way we track, sort, and return materials in a circular economy. Panellists include Weronika Czaplewska (COO & Co-Founder, Envirly), Stéphane Cren (Head of Innovation, GS1 France), Mark Roberts (Sustainability & Circular Economy Director, Amcor), and Wolfgang Trunk (European Commission).

The discussion dives into AI-enabled high-quality sorting, smart prompts that keep recyclables out of the black bag, and the trade-offs between “just enough tech” and tech overload. The panel also explores Digital DRS, from serialised QR codes on single-use packaging to tracking rotations for reusables, and discusses their cost impacts for stakeholders across the value chain. The conversation makes clear that there is a pressing need for clearer regulatory guidance and standardised methods to ensure data transparency and comparability across companies.

In this episode of the Reloop Brief, Barry Snedden checks in with Joe Papineschi, Chairperson for Eunomia Research & Consulting, for a post-INC 5.2 debrief. They unpack why the plastics treaty negotiations ended without a deal, what actually moved forward, and how the Chair’s draft text was received (first, an over-watered proposal that was rejected by all sides, then a still-compromised framework with too many unresolved options to conclude).

Joe explains the persistent polarisation since INC-2 (production limits vs. waste-only focus), the parallel fault line on financing, and why private-sector contributions, especially a primary plastic polymer fee, are gaining attention amid thin public funds. Joe sheds some light on the most plausible paths ahead.