---
title: "Proxit"
description: "Proxit (PAPREC, 2025/26): Tobacco shops buy back used nitrous oxide canisters and trigger collection pick-ups"
url: "https://www.sugar-network.org/en/projects/proxit-2025-26/"
lang: "en"
---

# Proxit

**Tobacco shops buy back used nitrous oxide canisters and trigger collection pick-ups**

_Your local network for nitrous oxide collection_

- **Corporate partner:** [PAPREC](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/network/partners/paprec/) (https://www.paprec.com/en/)
- **Cohort:** [2025/26](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/projects/cohort/2025-26/)
- **Theme:** [Sustainability & resources](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/projects/themes/sustainability-resources/)
- **Type:** Service concept
- **Key fact:** 2 € Concept payout per returned canister
- **Universities:** [d.school Paris · École des Ponts](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/network/universities/dschool-paris/), [ISDI School of Design & Innovation](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/network/universities/isdi/)
- **Team:** 7 master students
- **Disciplines:** Industrial Design, Communication Design, Interior Design, UX Design, Civil Engineering, Software Engineering

## Challenge

Recreational 1 L and 3 L nitrous oxide canisters have no accessible disposal route. They end up in household waste, and some explode in waste-to-energy plants, causing damage, forced maintenance and danger to staff.

## What they built

A buy-back network of local tobacco shops, marked by a sticker. Users hand in canisters and receive 2€ each. When storage is full, the shop requests a Paprec pick-up within 48 hours and is reimbursed in full.

## Impact

Shops earn 5€ per canister for hosting the collection point. For Paprec, fewer canisters reach waste-to-energy facilities, which become safer, and city streets stay cleaner.

## Full project text

Proxit allows anyone to bring back used nitrous oxide canisters to local tobacco shops in exchange for generous compensation.

### Challenge

Over the past few years, 1L and 3L canisters of nitrous oxide have increasingly been used for recreational purposes by younger generations for their euphoric and short-lived effects, but these canisters have created a bigger problem. Indeed, because of the lack of an accessible means of disposal, they end up in the household waste system and land in waste to energy facilities, where some of these canisters explode, causing unwanted damage and mandatory maintenance, on top of being a danger to the facility’s personnel.

### Solution

No more need to go to a dedicated recycling center! Proxit transforms local tobacco shops into buy-back relay collection points for used nitrous oxide canisters. With the stores’ flexible schedules and familiar setting, Proxit is designed with the direct needs of consumers and responsible citizens in mind. Identified through a subtle but visible sticker, users simply bring their bottles in the store, hand them over and receive 2€ per canister. Once the storage space is full, the store manager can request Paprec to come collect all the bottles in 48h and receives a transfer with the full amount.

### Impact

With Proxit, consumers are given the opportunity to dispose of their nitrous oxide canisters while simultaneously participating in their local economy. In exchange for making their storefront accessible to users, local stores are compensated 5€, more than double the amount per bottle, contributing to a cleaner city and a safer waste to energy facility. Consumers are now motivated to dispose of their canisters in a more responsible way instead of loitering the streets with unwanted and dangerous waste.

## Who built it.

- Sixtine Nodet, Software Engineer (d.school Paris · École des Ponts)
- Kathryn Nguyen, Accountant (d.school Paris · École des Ponts)
- Kieran Janin, Civil Engineer (d.school Paris · École des Ponts)
- Dimple Motwani, Industrial Designer & Researcher (ISDI School of Design & Innovation)
- Shreyas Mundada, Communication Designer (ISDI School of Design & Innovation)
- Palak Toshniwal, UI/UX Designer (ISDI School of Design & Innovation)
- Rithika Maniyar, Interior Designer (ISDI School of Design & Innovation)

## Video

- Team PAPREC - Proxit by d-school Paris and Atlas-ISDI - EXPO Teasers 2026: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMfl1Lcu38s

## Sources

Summarised by the SUGAR editorial team from the team’s project page.

Open the 2025/26 booklet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YuEdSu72p4SvYlsdPbHL04C_lRETW8r1/view?usp=sharing