HNEE graduate receives BioThesis Research Award 2021

In his Bachelor's thesis at the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE), Niklas Domke focussed on the question of how more reusable containers can be created in the organic sector in future in order to achieve a more environmentally friendly overall concept. He was honoured for his work today.

Niklas Domke, who successfully graduated from the HNEE Organic Agriculture & Marketing programme in August 2020, got the idea for his bachelor's thesis from his own consumption of oat milk. "Until recently, oat milk was only sold in tetrapaks. I wondered why there were no reusable glass bottles for milk alternatives," he recalls. At the same time, he noticed that no reusable jars were used for spreads either, but mainly disposable versions. This did not seem to the 23-year-old to be a coherent overall concept for the organic sector, which is why he increasingly focussed on the question of how a more environmentally friendly concept could be realised for the sector with existing glass containers from disposable to reusable. For his Bachelor's thesis, which was supervised by HNEE colleagues Prof Dr Jens Pape and Dr Melanie Kröger, both of whom have been working on the topic of unpackaged shops and their packaging avoidance options for some time, Niklas Domke interviewed various experts from the food production and food retail sectors. He found out that although there are new approaches to reusable packaging systems in the non-beverage sector, e.g. for nuts, tomato passata and tea, the implementation of a reusable packaging system is very time-consuming and, in the view of the interviewees, cannot be tackled by any company alone. "There is a need for support with rinsing the jars, logistics and the general organisation of the reusable system. In addition, very little research has been conducted into consumer behaviour. It is not clear whether they would be willing to pay more for reusable packaging, especially for spreads, for example," he says, summarising the most important findings of his bachelor's thesis. In general, however, there was a great willingness on the part of those surveyed to engage with the topic. "A reusable system for products such as nuts already exists for yoghurt jars. As some of these are already listed in food retail, the principle is well known and there are companies that want to follow the trend," says Niklas Domke. As a result of his work, the respondents wanted a service provider that would enable risk-free testing of the system. The HNEE graduate also points out that there is currently a lack of life cycle assessments for non-beverage packaging that compare single-use packaging with reusable packaging. There is still a need for research in this area.
Niklas Domke is currently studying at the Humboldt University of Berlin, where he is completing a Master's degree in Agricultural Economics.

On 18 February 2021, he was awarded the BioThesis Research Prize of the organic food industry for his bachelor's thesis. The prize, which is endowed with 2,000 euros, is awarded annually in the Bachelor's and Master's categories, with a total of 10,000 euros being distributed. This year's award ceremony will take place as part of the BIOFACH e-special.