Between June and September, MOBIUSpack and Mondial Relay, the pickup point parcel delivery network, ran a reusable parcel test at a scale unusual for this type of project: around 500 packages put into circulation, across nearly 1,000 pickup points in northern France (Nord) and the Paris region. The business press covered the operation when it launched. What follows separates what these sources confirm from what remains unpublished to date.
How the test works
The scheme relies on Mondial Relay's existing pickup point network rather than on dedicated return logistics. According to the process described in the press, a customer who receives a MOBIUSpack reusable parcel at a pickup point is invited to bring a bag to carry their purchase home and to leave the packaging on site at collection. The empty packaging is then picked up through the existing logistics circuit and goes back into the loop.
The logic of this approach is fairly simple to explain: reusable packaging only makes environmental and economic sense if the return rate is high enough. As soon as the packaging leaves the professional circuit and ends up with an end consumer who has no obvious drop-off point, the risk of loss rises sharply. This is exactly what the test aimed to limit, by relying on a collection network that customers already visit every day.
A defined area and timeframe
The two regions covered, Nord and Île-de-France (the Paris region), were not chosen at random. Mondial Relay has a high density of pickup points in these areas, which makes a 1,000-point test easier to run without spreading too thin. The June to September window covers a few months: enough to observe several rotation cycles of the same batch of packaging, without covering a full year of activity and the seasonal swings specific to e-commerce.
What is confirmed, and what is not
Two press articles covered the launch of this trial. Le Journal des Entreprises published an article on May 16, 2025 detailing the partnership, its scale and its economic rationale. Ecommercemag.fr published a news brief on the same topic on April 18, 2025. Both confirm that the test exists, its announced scale and the two regions involved.
Neither of these sources, nor any other source identified at the time of writing, publishes quantified results from the trial: no actual packaging return rate, no loss rate, no decision on a national rollout. At launch, Le Journal des Entreprises mentioned the possibility of a wider rollout in France if results were positive, but this was presented as conditional, not as a decision already made. Based on publicly available sources, the outcome of the test has not been communicated, and this article therefore does not settle the question of the return rate achieved.
Why this test goes beyond a single company
Since this test was launched, the reusable parcel sector has changed significantly: in late 2025, a French company in the sector was placed in judicial liquidation, and its assets were taken over by an Italian company. This sequence illustrates a view shared by several sector observers. The initial trial phase, which mainly demonstrated the technical feasibility of reusable parcels, is giving way to a phase where return logistics, washing, loss management and end-consumer buy-in become the real economic tipping points. A test like the one run with Mondial Relay belongs to this second phase, where the question is no longer “can we make reusable packaging that is technically viable” but “can we get enough packaging back for the loop to hold up economically”.
Where the project stands today
At the time of writing, no public source makes it possible to say whether the test is still running, has been extended, or has ended with specific results. A company or journalist seeking an update on the concrete results of this trial should contact MOBIUSpack or Mondial Relay directly, as the two partners in the project.