FAQ to the topic “Zero Waste”

How do I send you the glasses back?

When you’ve collected a minimum of 10 of our Zero Waste containers please roughly clean them and take care of the fact that they arrive intact. Therefore you can use some newspaper sheets and wrap the glasses inside the box.

Please use the following address for your returnal:

FAIR SQUARED GmbH
Hermann-Heinrich-Gossen-Str. 4
50858 Köln

Do you refund the postage?

No, we don’t. But we‘ve come up with a different idea. As an incentive to bring back the containers, we reward you with a 10 € voucher for your next order at fair2.me. So, when you return a minimum of 10 packages (glass jars or bottles, tins) from our FAIR SQUARED series, we send you this voucher. Therefore, please leave your e-mail address in the parcel.

Do you also take back damaged glasses?

No, because we cannot refill them, obviously. If some of your glasses are broken, please bring them to your local bottle bank to let them be recycled.

Should I leave on the labels on the glasses?

You don’t need to unlabel the glasses. Instead we ask you to leave the labels on there so we can let them be recycled professionally.

I want to send back your zero-waste glasses. How do I get the voucher?

As a little thank you for your returnal, we would like to grant you a voucher of 10 € for your next order at our online shop fair2.me. Please remember to leave your e-mail address in the parcel, so we can send you the voucher code.

What happens to the inlay in the cap when recycling?

Due to hygienical reasons, at the moment we still use so-called „EPE“ coated inlays in the caps. Because paper cannot be used for that reason, we were looking for something else. But when refilling the glasses, they are being replaced by a more sustainable material. All those consisting of „EPE“ coated material will be reused in another way. Furthermore: From autum 2019 on, we only use caps with plastic-free inlays made of natural rubber which we derive from fair trade routes.

Can I assume that the glasses will be hygienically cleaned when being in reuse?

Of course you can. We have found an experienced partner who reassured us that he will bring the glasses back to a hygienically perfect state before they are being refilled. This is as important as in the refilling of returnable bottles for drinks.

Is it also possible to donate the voucher’s value?

Yes, if you like, we also offer this. Instead of granting you a shopping voucher, we can donate the amount of 10 € to a Fairtrade project in Raichur, India. For some years now, we have been spending money via ClimatePartner for clean and efficient pressure cookers in that area. If you are willing to donate your voucher for that cause, please let us know by a small note inside your parcel.

Does it really make sense that you use glasses since they are said to need a high amount of energy when being produced?

A good question, indeed. As a matter of fact, many studies have been conducted in recent times which evaluate the impact of a glass container compared to its energy efficiency. Amongst others, the German Umweltbundesamt has dealt with that (e. g. in the German publication Prüfung und Aktualisierung der Ökobilanzen für Getränkeverpackungen, Februar 2016). Way more applicable for our purpose is the result which had been published by ClimatePartner in 2019: When used in a closed-loop system, returned and refilled glass containers save more than the half of the greenhouse effects of single-use glass containers. The conclusion: Glass as a container material is only useful when it is implemented in a circular system. And that’s exactly what we do.