At the supermarket, in the fruit and vegetable section, you might come across (perhaps without noticing) a beige crate with perforated surfaces and a slightly unusual design. It's called Redea, and it tells a story that begins in 1998, long before words like "circularity", "sharing" or "ecodesign" entered everyday vocabulary. Behind this object lies one of Italy's longest-standing and most concrete examples of circular economy applied to agri-food logistics: that of Cpr System, born from an idea that seems almost natural today, but was far-sighted at the time — rethinking the entire packaging cycle not as a sequence of isolated steps, but as a single shared responsibility. Today the cooperative counts more than a thousand members across the entire supply chain.

Cpr System: a model of cooperation in the agri-food sector

In the fruit and vegetable sector, producers and distributors often have diverging interests, different timescales and different needs. Cpr System overturns this logic by building a system in which the supply chain works together to reduce waste, optimise transport and lower costs. The effects are very tangible: the use of reusable crates eliminates a large quantity of single-use packaging, reducing waste and emissions throughout the value chain. All of this in a country — Italy — where packaging accounts for 8 per cent of total waste.

Redea transforms an apparently ordinary object into a common good, collectively managed and kept in circulation for years before being reintroduced into the production cycle as a secondary raw material. As president Gabriele Ferri points out, the true strength of the model lies in teamwork. And it is precisely this that makes Cpr System a rare case in Italy and Europe: being a cooperative means working together, sharing benefits and maintaining a stable direction over time, regardless of the market's ups and downs.

The journey of a Redea crate, between engineering and biomimicry

Redea is an advanced ecodesign object, developed by the Politecnico di Milano following the Voronoi diagram. Its perforated pattern is inspired by the same geometric scheme that shapes honeycomb cells, giraffe markings or leaf stomata. Applied to the crate, this design makes it possible to increase internal ventilation, useful for better preserving fresh produce; to reduce weight without compromising sturdiness; to improve water drainage during washing; and to achieve a more flexible, impact-resistant surface. A prime example of applied biomimicry.

Redea's journey begins at the facilities where it is moulded, continues through producers' fields and warehouses, reaches supermarkets, and finally returns to washing centres, where it is sanitised using systems that optimise water and energy consumption. At the end of its life, Redea is entirely re-granulated: the recovered plastic re-enters the production cycle, structurally reducing dependence on virgin resources. The percentage of materials sent for recovery exceeds 96 per cent.

In short, thanks to Redea crates optimised in size and weight, Cpr System manages to reduce transport by approximately 20 per cent on average — a choice that also translates into a reduction of more than 10 per cent in carbon dioxide emissions during the transport phase, and a reduction of almost 2 per cent in fuel consumption and distances travelled.

Noè, the pallet made from recycled and recyclable plastic

Alongside Redea is Noè, the pallet made from entirely recycled and recyclable plastic, produced by Newpal, a company jointly owned by Lucart and Cpr System. Noè is manufactured using a technology unique in Europe, employing the plastic fraction of post-consumer polylaminate materials — such as Tetra Pak cartons — which are given a new lease of life and re-enter a shared use cycle.

This attention to materials goes hand in hand with the transformation of the infrastructure: the cooperative is developing advanced traceability systems, new and more efficient washing platforms, and an information system capable of tracking every step of the supply chain. The first sustainability report, drawn up voluntarily in accordance with European standards on the basis of 2024 data, marks the intention to make this commitment measurable and verifiable. And the gender equality certification, obtained by Cpr and its affiliated company FCLog, represents a further building block for an inclusive cooperative ecosystem.

For Italian consumers, packaging is very much a consideration. Our fellow citizens regard it as sustainable when it is fully recyclable (51 per cent), proportionate to the quantity and characteristics of the product (43 per cent), made from raw materials derived from renewable sources (40 per cent), or produced with low CO2 emissions (35 per cent). The strength of the Cpr System model also lies in its ability to make an impact on daily life without asking people to change their habits, make different choices or add a product to their shopping trolley. It is an infrastructure that works "behind the scenes", yet produces a direct effect on food quality, the amount of waste avoided, the reduction of emissions and supply chain traceability.