The Simple Idea That Could be the Answer to our Plastic Problem: Reusable Packaging

Jan 28, 2019 10:05 AM ET
Loop initially will be an e-commerce play. Image: REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Originally posted on weforum.org

A new initiative by a small company has compelled more than two dozen of the world’s biggest brands to begin testing reusable packaging.

 

Counter-worthy

Part of the magic of Loop is reusable packaging, designed in partnership with the brand owners to be not just durable, but "counter-worthy" — attractive enough to keep in plain view, in the words of Virginie Helias, vice president and chief sustainability officer at Procter & Gamble. "You want to show it to your friends." But, she adds, the appeal is not just aesthetic: "It's also the fact that it's a better premium experience for people."

For P&G, that meant designing new packaging for the Loop platform. And, in some cases, inventing new products altogether.

For example, the company developed a toothbrush called Click, part of the company’s Oral B line. "It's basically a new design that reduced the plastic by 60 percent because you have a durable handle which is made of composite material," explained Helias. "And there is a mechanism which we call Click Fits, which allows you to detach the head from the handle."

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