Under pressure to cut the flow of single-use plastic bottles and containers clogging the world’s waterways, major packaged goods sellers and retailers have teamed with recycling and shipping firms on an e-commerce service that puts a twist on the old-fashioned milkman.
Called Loop and announced at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, it delivers products such as orange juice, shampoo and laundry detergent in reusable glass and metal bottles to shopper doorsteps and retrieves the empties for cleaning and reuse.
Reuters Newsagency reports launch partners include recycling firm and Loop parent TerraCycle; shipper United Parcel Service; consumer packaged goods sellers Procter & Gamble, Unilever, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola European Partners; and retailers Carrefour and Tesco.
Loop’s unveiling comes after China’s decision to stop collecting and processing plastic waste escalated alarm over environmental damage to the world’s oceans.
The service launches in May with projects in Paris and the New York/New Jersey/Pennsylvania area.
A United Kingdom program is slated for later in 2019, with Toronto, Tokyo and California to follow next year.
Users order products online and put down fully refundable deposits for the reusable packaging.
They can wipe out shipping fees of US$15 to US$20 by including about seven items in their order, said Tom Szaky, chief executive of recycling firm and Loop parent company TerraCycle.
Plastic production has surged over the past 50 years, leading to widespread use of inexpensive, disposable bottles, cups, takeaway containers and other products.
Government bans on products such as single-use plastic water bottles, shopping bags and polystyrene cups have sent retailers and consumer goods companies searching for solutions.
Reuters reports Loop’s Paris retail partner Carrefour will test and tweak the program ahead of the official launch.
“It will surprise me if it works on day one,” said Carrefour Secretary General Laurent Vallee, who added that Loop challenges industry and consumers “to act, to think and to buy differently.”
PepsiCo will start a 5000-household Paris project with Tropicana orange juice in glass bottles and Quaker Chocolate Cruesli cereal in steel containers, said Simon Lowden, president and chief marketing officer of global snacks and insights.
Mr Lowden and other executives vowed to use their companies’ scale and marketing muscle to support the project, but declined to quantify financial investments.
P&G’s Loop contributions include Tide laundry detergent in stainless steel bottles and Pampers diaper recycling.
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oop’s refundable deposits in Europe range from €0.25 for a Coca-Cola 200ml bottle to €47 for Pampers recycling, TerraCycle said.
Virginie Helias, P&G’s chief sustainability officer, said the company would monitor Loop demand before investing in comprehensive package redesign projects.
Reuters reports Nestle, which designed a stainless steel Haagen-Dazs ice cream container for Loop’s New York-area project, would do the same according to Kim Peddle Rguem, Nestle USA’s ice cream president.
One Response
Don’t be tricked by false biodegradable claims on plastic packaging as there is no such thing as biodegradable plastic including plastics made from vegetable matter (PLA) . Oil was once vegetation. Some say compostable but pollute the compost with micro plastics poisoning the soil.
Also don’t use rain forest paper as just as bag in the form of then brown and white paper bags and carry bags that often falsely say or infer that they are recycled. Use only 100% post-consumer recycled paper packaging like ecocern products made only from the fruit of your recycling efforts.