France's catering industry is undergoing a radical change: Since January 1, 2025, the new EGAlim law prohibits the use of plastic containers for cooking, transporting, heating and serving food in school and university catering as well as in pediatric and maternity wards. Thousands of establishments have had to completely change their approach because the more than one billion meals served each year were previously mostly served in disposable plastic containers. Rieber's stainless steel reusable system "GNauto" is helping the neighboring country to meet the new legal requirements and at the same time overcome the key challenges facing the industry.

This report compares the CO₂ emissions of reusable GN containers made of stainless steel and Green Steel with conventional plastic disposable packaging. The results show which packaging solutions are more sustainable in the long term and how their environmental impact develops over several usage cycles. The aim is to create a sound basis for decisions on the use of more environmentally friendly packaging in the food and catering sectors.