World's biggest brands trialling reusable and refillable packaging

World's biggest brands trialling reusable and refillable packaging

By Liam Taylor  February 25th, 2019

Last month 25 of the world's biggest consumer brands announced they will soon offer some products in refillable, reusable containers.

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Last month 25 of the world’s biggest consumer brands announced they will soon offer some products in refillable, reusable containers. The brands have partnered with waste management company Terracycle to create the Loop project, which will start as a pilot project in May 2019.

Popular products including Tropicana orange juice, Axe and Dove deodorants, Häagen-Dazs ice cream, Tide laundry detergent and many more will be available for purchase in glass or stainless-steel containers as opposed to single-use disposable packaging.

Customers will use a retail website to order their chosen items, pay a fully refundable deposit for the reusable packaging and, once they have used the products, return empty containers back into the scheme for cleaning and refilling.

The Loop project came about after Terracycle pitched the idea to brands at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2017. The pilot project will be trialled on around 5,000 shoppers from New York and Paris who sign up in advance. The project will then be expanded to London, Toronto, Tokyo and San Francisco by 2020.

With plastic packaging composing a significant proportion of overall waste sent to landfill and issues of microplastics in our natural environment moving into sharper focus, initiatives such as the Loop project could be crucial in addressing the plastics crisis and moving towards a circular economy. It is estimated that 91% of the plastics ever produced has not been recycled.

 

Positive Action

  • Just because Loop isn’t in Australia yet doesn’t mean you can’t use your own reusable packaging where possible. Bulk food stores, fresh food grocers and even butchers are usually open to using people’s own containers, but you can only find out by asking!
  • For traditional packaging, look out for the Australasian Recycling Label, an evidence-based system providing information on how to correctly recycle packaging.

 

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Positive Environment News has been compiled using publicly available information. Planet Ark does not take responsibility for the accuracy of the original information and encourages readers to check the references before using this information for their own purposes.

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By Liam Taylor

Prior to joining Planet Ark Liam spent his time studying global environmental issues, travelling Southeast Asia on the cheap and working for a sustainable property management company in Bali, Indonesia. Joining the communications team at Planet Ark, he hopes to inspire positive environmental behaviour through effective and positive messaging.

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