TOMRA R2 reverse vending machine wins Gold iF Design Award

Recognition for design excellence

The iF Design Award jury particularly recognized TOMRA R2’s ability to turn the process of returning bottles into a seamless, universally accessible experience.

“Intuitive interaction and elegant engineering take the hassle out of recycling, turning an environmental obligation into a fast, clean, and convenient experience. This is a great example of universal design principles deployed in everyday life,” the jury stated.

“Thank you to the iF jury for this recognition; it means a lot to everyone involved in bringing TOMRA R2 to life,” said Anders Ertsås, Design Manager at TOMRA Collection. “With this project, we set out to rethink the recycling interaction from first principles, focusing on flow, accessibility and intuitive ease for everyday users. The result is a solution where advanced technology fades into the background, enabling a simple and inclusive experience. We are proud of what our multidisciplinary design team has achieved, and of TOMRA’s continued commitment to human-centered innovation that makes sustainable behavior easier.”

TOMRA previously won an iF Design Award in 2024 for the TOMRA RollPac vertical storage cabinet, which also won a Red Dot Design Award the same year.

Inside TOMRA R2

With the requirement for more markets to implement deposit return schemes for drink container recycling, there was a need for a more efficient and convenient ways to collect containers and engage the public to participate in recycling.

TOMRA R2 launched in 2024. TOMRA R2 is compatible with TOMRA backroom storage solutions (like TOMRA MultiPac 2, EasyPac 2 PRO and RollPac), allowing retailers to upgrade their reverse vending front-end without investing in new backroom equipment. Access for service and cleaning is in the backroom rather than the front, consumer-facing side – saving staff time and effort and reducing disturbance on the retail floor.

TOMRA R2 has newly become TOMRA's first multi-feed RVM to accept glass bottles. This feature for gentle glass handling has been requested by several regions with deposit return systems featuring glass, to provide consumers with a one-stop location to return all types of containers. Also new with TOMRA R2 is a cleaning assist module, the first TOMRA offering of its kind, which periodically sprays water automatically on key inner areas of the machine. This maintains performance, keeps the machine cleaner for longer, and minimizes manual cleaning effort – freeing up valuable time for staff. 

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