The sky is clearer these days, as mountain views come into full focus. Air traffic has dropped significantly, production of some industries has ceased and people around the world have been sticking close to home. With that, global greenhouse gas emissions fell as much as 17% by April, according to new research published in the journal Nature Climate Change. While that’s good news in many regards, the coronavirus pandemic has also increased household and plastic waste, and disrupted the recycling industry.   “The pandemic has given way to a curious phenomenon. With some industries pausing activities and fewer cars clogging roads, we’ve seen a drop in greenhouse gas emissions and a subsequent improvement in air quality,” writes Tom Szaky, CEO and founder of TerraCycle, a national sustainability company that focuses on recycling difficult-to-recycle packaging and products, in an email. “But even as the environment heals, we’ll be waking up to a waste crisis that’s worse than where we left it.”   There’s been an influx of single-use plastics and disposable plastic bags going to landfills, Szaky says, as reusables have been banned over health concerns. The use of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks and gloves, many of which contain plastic, have also significantly increased, adding significantly to the waste stream.   Before the start of the pandemic, approximately 40% of U.S. household waste was packaging and paper products such as plastic containers, aluminum cans, glass bottles and jars, newspaper and cardboard, according to the Product Stewardship Institute. Since the start of the pandemic, however, there’s 20-30% more trash and recycling coming out of households nationally, says Kate Bailey, policy and research director at Eco-Cycle based in Boulder.   At Eco-Cycle, the amount of single-use plastics such as take-out containers and bags hasn’t changed significantly, Bailey says. Although, there has been a larger-than-normal uptick in single-use beverage containers as summer approaches. Plus, smaller cardboard boxes associated with at-home delivery have increased as well.   TerraCycle, Szaky says, has seen a spike in both Zero Waste Boxes, which allow folks to mail in hard-to-recycle items (including PPE), and use of the company’s Loop e-commerce site, which sells packaged goods in durable, sanitized and reused containers.   While household recycling may be increasing, plastic and glass from businesses have significantly decreased, causing potential disruptions in the supply chains across the country.   “We have a lot of manufacturing companies in this country that make toilet paper, that make cardboard boxes, that make glass bottles that depend on recycling,” Bailey says. “So we’re seeing this call from manufacturers to say, ‘We need you to please keep recycling because we need these raw materials.’”   And the industry has had to shift gears toward more household pick-up to keep up with demand, as some commercial recycling companies have had to close.   “Since this increase in collections has been largely limited to residential locations as most businesses remain closed, many recycling haulers who exclusively operate in the commercial waste market have been forced to layoff employees,” Szaky says.   The pandemic comes at a time when the recycling industry was already struggling with historically low virgin plastic prices, made worse by the significant drop in oil and gas prices, and stymied international trading markets, as China banned recycling imports in 2018. There have been policy setbacks as well.   In Colorado, two separate bills banning single-use plastics like straws, bags and coffee stirrers and polystyrene (Styrofoam) take-out packaging by 2022 were making their way (successfully) through the state legislature before the pandemic hit. Now, neither one is expected to move forward this year.   “This feels a lot like getting kicked while you’re down,” Bailey says.   But, Bailey says, the pandemic has also presented an opportunity to rebuild recycling programs and make them more resilient, and she expects the global momentum around reducing plastics and waste to continue beyond this pandemic.   “The short of it is the problems with plastic production — the fossil fuel consumption, the climate emissions, and then the problems with plastics waste in the ocean, in our bodies — those are not going away,” Bailey says. “We don’t see this as a long-term victory for plastic. I see this as a short-term trend and then an adjustment period for all of us.”   Szaky isn’t quite so optimistic, however, saying it’s hard to project the long-term impacts of the present challenges.   “This perfect storm of issues has been brewing for a while and the COVID-19 crisis seems to have tipped the industry over the edge,” he writes. “While only time will tell if the industry can bounce back, it will certainly not be returning to ‘business as usual’ as soon as lockdowns are lifted.”

Before COVID-19, people all over the world had been more focused than ever before on the issue of sustainability. Coordinated climate strikes, beginning in the spring of 2019 and continuing through the end of that year, conveyed the growing environmental concerns of global citizens. Employees and customers had increasingly expressed an interest in businesses taking stances and action on sustainability. And consumer data showed rising sales^PDF of products with sustainability features.   Fast forward to today: The pandemic has exposed the fragility of the world and heightened people’s appreciation of sustainability. How many of us have appreciated cleaner air and paid more attention to labor conditions, given essential workers’ greater virus exposure? Consumer insights reflect this sensitivity. More than half of respondents to a recent survey conducted by management consulting firm Kearney said that as a result of their COVID-19 experience, they are more likely to buy environmentally friendly products. And unpublished PwC research shows that 75 percent of U.S. consumers surveyed believe companies should maintain changes they’ve made due to COVID-19 that have a positive environmental impact. At the same time, though, the deep economic crisis the virus has caused is making shoppers more price-sensitive and forcing many companies to do whatever it takes to simply stay afloat. Companies, even those with sustainability in their DNA, might put some or all environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives on hold to stem revenue losses. However, early data suggests that prioritizing sustainability could boost financial performance. As of early April, big ESG-focused funds were outperforming the S&P 500 for the year to date. This could reflect investors’ long-term view. Recent research by the Conference Board also highlights how a commitment to sustainability can help companies weather crises and recover faster. Companies will need to be creative and more focused than ever, though, to make their sustainability strategies financially viable, considering reduced corporate income and consumers’ renewed frugality. Long before the pandemic, Unilever’s chief research and development officer, Richard Slater, highlighted companies’ lead role in mainstreaming sustainability when he said in an interview on NPR, “The onus is on us as consumer companies to innovate and come up with solutions that are great for people…[and]…convenient at the right price.”

Evidence that consumers care

A growing number of consumers — along with employees and investors — want to associate with brands whose values they identify with. According to a global consumer survey by the Conference Board, about two-thirds of respondents have bought brands because of their environmental practices, more than half have dropped brands because they don’t provide fair labor conditions, and a significant share have at some point either switched brands or moved away from brands because of the social causes they support. Dichotomy in consumer motivation — between caring about a cause but also about functional features and price — makes pursuing a sustainability agenda complicated. Soon-to-be-published global PwC research shows that consumers think government bears the biggest responsibility for encouraging sustainable behaviors and lifestyles. Those surveyed put themselves in second place, right after the government and ahead of manufacturers/producers, retailers, and other institutions. The survey also found an increase in the number of people making sustainability-conscious decisions year over year. The percentage of survey respondents who avoid plastics when possible rose from 41 percent to 45 percent, and the percentage of those who consciously choose sustainable ways to travel rose from 28 percent to 32 percent. People’s purchasing choices don’t always fall in line with their attitudes about sustainability, but recent purchase data indicates that in some categories, words and actions more or less align. In the U.S., the percentage of overall store sales made up of sustainable consumer packaged goods (CPG) grew from 19.7 percent in 2014 to 22.3 percent in 2017, and is expected to reach 25 percent by 2021. Sales of products with on-package sustainability claims, such as USDA Organic or “no phosphates,” grew almost six times faster^PDF than conventional products from 2013 to 2018 (up 29 percent), accounting for about half of all CPG growth despite the category’s small market share. However, the Conference Board’s global consumer research shows that shoppers have considered sustainable features to be more an appreciated bonus than a core purchase driver. For example, environmental impact ranks only fifth among surveyed consumers’ decision criteria for daily mode of transportation, after speed to destination, cost, convenience, and safety. As Warby Parker cofounder and co-CEO Neil Blumenthal put it in an interview with Inc. magazine, “While customers certainly love the fact that we give back, at the end of the day, it’s not a critical factor in deciding whether to buy a pair of glasses.”

How companies can respond

This dichotomy in consumer motivation — between caring about a cause but also about functional features and price — makes pursuing a sustainability agenda complicated. Yet, doing so can help to differentiate a brand, delight customers, and ultimately create brand and financial value. Those looking to market sustainable offerings should consider the following suggestions. Couple sustainability features with other benefits. Companies can innovate, creating sustainable products and services superior to unsustainable alternatives. For instance, recycling company TerraCycle offers a circular packaging and delivery system called Loop that sends customers products in well-designed containers that can be returned for cleaning and reuse. Many companies, including leading ice cream, shampoo, and mouthwash brands, are part of the program. Consumers have to pay a deposit that’s sometimes double the product price, but people don’t mind. Why? Two-thirds of Loop shoppers indicate that the higher-end aesthetics and functionality of the containers are actually more important to them than the program’s sustainability benefits. For example, Häagen-Dazs’s dual-layered Loop cups keep ice cream frozen but aren’t too cold to hold comfortably, and the containers’ rounded bottom corners makes scooping easier. The fact that the Loop system is eco-friendly is a bonus. Paul Gaudio, global creative director for Adidas, explains the sustainability-as-a-bonus philosophy this way: “I don’t want people to buy it because it’s recyclable. I want people to buy it because it’s awesome. And oh, by the way, it’s recycled.” Minimize the sustainability price premium. Price can deter people from buying sustainable offerings, according to the Conference Board’s research. And in this time of pandemic-induced crisis, with many consumers suffering financial losses, this might be truer than ever. So, achieving cost efficiency is critical to keeping prices low. Companies can do this through innovation and partnerships — including with competitors. For example: Even pre-crisis, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and Colgate-Palmolive were committed to making their discoveries and technologies for recycling plastics accessible to others in the industry. This helps increase the supply of recycled plastics for all participating companies, while saving other businesses needless development costs. Plus, it advances companies’ sustainability goals and addresses consumer interests. Companies can also launch pricing plans that reward repeat purchases of sustainable products or services. Take Adidas’s circular economy service, Infinite Play, which is available in the U.K. and gives people gift cards or loyalty club points in exchange for their used Adidas items. Educate consumers about sustainability features and build trust. Many consumers find it time-consuming to gather information about a brand’s sustainability features — additionally, they don’t trust claims, or they find them confusing. According to the Conference Board’s survey, this lack of understanding is a key barrier to consumers buying sustainable brands, especially when it comes to awareness of fair labor conditions and wages. So, brands need to clearly communicate with their customers in concrete terms, disclosing information such as the amount of packaging saved or how they’ve enhanced certain working conditions. The COVID-19 crisis has inspired companies to do exactly that: It has put employee-related policies and crisis response in the spotlight, so businesses across the board have been communicating frequently with the public about these issues. To strengthen consumer awareness and trust, companies can also seek independent certification and inclusion in app-based directories that provide information about products’ sustainability features. Give sustainable consumption social currency. Like luxury goods, sustainable products often involve premium quality, craftsmanship, storytelling, and significant intangible value. For example, two different in-store experiments, one with fair trade–labeled coffee and another with a socially conscious–labeled Banana Republic women’s suit  — ordinary items, but not the cheapest in their categories — showed that the sustainability labels enhanced demand. Sustainability features also seem to grant emotional benefits, including the satisfaction of consuming more consciously and subtly signaling status. Brands can support, facilitate, and even encourage this status signaling with tools similar to virtuous behavior badges, such as “I voted” stickers, pink ribbons, or fitness trackers. For example, research has shown positive effects on hotel guests’ towel reusage when they can show their “green support” by wearing a pin or hanging a card on their door. All crises offer new opportunities. The current one may be a test for sustainability, but it could also instigate a new level of corporate creativity and innovation along the sustainability value chain.

The pandemic is changing the dialogue around reusable packaging, although not everyone agrees that this shift is necessarily a bad one. I recently caught up with Tom Szaky, CEO of reusable packaging platform Loop and its parent company TerraCycle, in advance of our interview during this week’s Circularity 20 Digital event. The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Lauren Phipps: How is the reuse market faring in the "age of contagion"?  Tom Szaky: I think it’s both good and bad at the same time. What’s the bad? It’s the obvious: reusable shopping bags. Many supermarkets have asked consumers to stop bringing those. And reusable coffee cups. Many coffee shops — noting that many are closed now — paused very early on. Those are the overt negatives for reuse. There are positives, though. Loop sales have never been stronger. I think the fundamental difference here is not that single-use or disposable is inherently safe or that reuse is inherently unsafe: It's how you deploy those systems. Supermarkets don't want you to bring your reusable shopping bag because you're not cleaning it as a consumer; you may have contagion and can pass it off incredibly fast. Inversely, if there's a professional system doing it well, then safety is there. That's the subtlety: It's not reuse overall, it's how reuse is used. Phipps: So, do you gawk at the collection of jars that I bring to the grocery store (under normal circumstances) and clean myself?  Szaky: I don't trust your cleaning, like I don't trust anyone's cleaning. In a normal world, I would say that's probably just fine because we are swimming in reuse, right? There's so much reuse we aren't aware of. It's OK and germs are generally good. While we should certainly be freaked out about the concept of COVID, we shouldn't be freaked out about the concept of reuse. What's important, especially in this time, is to think about the reuse ecosystems that are potentially very risky that we're very comfortable with. The fundamental difference here is not that single-use or disposable is inherently safe, or that reuse is inherently unsafe: It's how you deploy those systems. For example, we all go to the dentist to get our teeth cleaned. When we sit in the chair and the dentist brings out their tools — most of them are reused stainless steel tools — and they would have been in many many patients' mouths, probably some with potentially horrible diseases. And have any of us ever considered that as a problem? We probably haven't because we trust that the dentist is professionally sterilizing the tools in every reuse. Again, this is the important part: We need to take a step back and understand how we deploy these systems and what is the appropriate level of risk. Phipps: Given that it's about the "how" and not the "what," what advice would you give to other brands, retailers or even third-party service providers working to scale reuse solutions to help them navigate this time?  Szaky: What will help you in the short term is some form of professional cleaning management. That will create comfort right away for consumers, even with heightened COVID concerns. If you're a reuse organization and you're trying to promote a reuse system where you're expecting the consumer to clean — and there's many wonderful companies promoting reusable cups, bags, etc. — I think it's going to be a little challenging during COVID. I wouldn't fight it. I would just hunker down, make sure your company is protected and you can get through it. As things loosen, then start pushing your system.  

While there’s no scientific evidence to support this claim, there’s a widely shared consensus that most people eat ice cream directly out of the container. While a seemingly unimportant detail in the production of this popular dessert, for Nestlé, it was one of the most critical considerations as it planned out a new, radical design for its Häagen-Dazs ice cream brand. In January of 2019, Nestlé announced a partnership with TerraCycle, a global recycling organization that was rolling out a first-of-its-kind home delivery service called Loop. TerraCycle, known for its mission to eliminate waste by creating new products from the collection of hard-to-recycle materials, has been around for two decades. Last year, during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, TerraCycle founder Tom Szaky unveiled Loop, a shopping platform that will enable people to consume products in customized, brand-specific, durable packaging that is collected, cleaned, and refilled. As the world shines a spotlight on sustainability initiatives that factor in recycling single-use packaging, Loop takes the eco-friendly, green model to the next level by introducing reusable containers. And some of the biggest food and beverage and consumer package goods (CPG) companies including Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Clorox, Mars, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé, and more, were onboard for the pilot program that launched last year. For its part, Nestlé joined Loop as it committed to expanding its global efforts to develop new packaging designs that minimize the impact on the environment, noting that by 2025 the company plans to make 100% of its packaging recyclable or reusable. As part of the Loop pilot program, Häagen-Dazs ice cream was delivered in a reusable, stainless-steel, double-walled ice cream container, which keeps product fresh and cold while maintaining the pint at a comfortable temperature for the person eating the ice cream straight from the container. The design also enables the ice cream to melt quicker at the top, and its rounded edges means the last spoonful doesn’t get stuck in the corners of the container. “The package design process was a critical part of the entire Loop process,” said Steve Yeh, a project manager at Häagen-Dazs. “It’s not just about making a reusable container, it’s also about creating a high-touch consumer experience.” According to Yeh, the Häagen-Dazs package went through a total of 15 iterations before it finally launched. “Nestlé committed major resources to design and develop the original package.” The team also worked closely with Loop on developing breakthrough cooling technology for the Loop Tote, which the ice cream container is delivered in via UPS. Terracycle officials admit there is a cost to manufacturing partners committing to Loop—from the investment in new durable packaging to the design of the product to the time spent understanding how to handle new packaging lines and how to scale to meet demand. But the reality today is that sustainability efforts are here to stay. And any new endeavor is going to require an upfront investment. According to a new business intelligence report from PMMI, the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (and Automation World parent company), packaging sustainability has moved beyond a trend and is now a global shift. Released in March 2020, the report, “Packaging Sustainability: A Changing Landscape,” reveals how sustainable packaging initiatives at CPGs are affecting machines, materials, and packaging formats. The report states that the global sustainable packaging market reported that total value of revenue was estimated at $220 billion in 2018 and is predicted to reach $280 billion in 2025, growing at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 6%. The report is based on information collected from 100 sources and 60 interviews. The majority of the CPGs interviewed are looking to switch to lighter weight, recyclable, and sustainable materials to reduce waste. About 36% of the CPGs interviewed are exploring the circular model of reuse/return/refill. The circular economy For decades consumers have been participating in the “throwaway lifestyle,” where single-use products are disposed of resulting in massive amounts of waste. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the total generation of municipal solid waste (MSW) in 2017 was 267.8 million tons or 4.51 pounds per person per day. Of the MSW generated, more than 94 million tons of MSW were recycled and composted, equivalent to a 35.2% recycling and composting rate. In other words, we don’t have a good track record for recycling. TerraCycle thought there must be another way—which is Loop. “The genesis of Loop is a tighter, closed-loop system that has manufacturers taking back ownership of their packaging,” said Ben Weir, Loops’ business development manager for North America. “It’s bringing about the reusability of packaging in something that is durable and long-lasting and that can be cleaned and used hundreds of times.” It’s not a new concept, but rather a throwback to the milkman model in which consumers returned the glass containers. What’s new is the aesthetic benefits that will drive consumer brand perception—and, while not obvious at first—it is a better economic model for the manufacturer. “The concept of a circular economy is an economic model, not a sustainability framework,” said Tim Debus, president and CEO of the Reusable Packaging Association (RPA). “By decoupling growth from the consumption of finite resources, maintaining product values at their highest, and building market resilience to source material disruptions. It is estimated that the circular economy offers $4.5 trillion of value from new growth and innovation opportunities, and the world today is only 8.6% circular.” There is an enormous opportunity, but manufacturers may hesitate due to the upfront investment related to packaging design and retooling machinery. According to Nestlé’s Yeh, the company used its Bakersfield, Calif., facility to ramp up its production of ice cream in reusable and durable containers for the Loop pilot project. “We decided to retrofit an existing line to support the platform versus investing in a new line. It was not an easy changeover and required some reengineering. Some of the changes involved installing more modern equipment including better code daters and more modern metal detection.” Yeh said they also incorporated improvements to existing processes, which requires additional staff to handle the containers. “Once the platform expands, we would then visit a fully automated system.”

It began with worm poop. In 2001, while enrolled as a freshman at Princeton University, Tom Szaky learned that friends were feeding kitchen scraps to worms and using the resulting fertilizer to feed their plants. That discovery led him to found a company called TerraCycle, to sell worm poop-based fertilizer packaged in used soda bottles.   Since then, TerraCycle has developed into a recycling juggernaut. It has done so by teaming with brands, retailers, and municipalities to run programs aimed at gathering post-consumer, difficult-to-recycle waste, such as juice pouches and deodorant containers. Tapping a small army of consumer volunteer collectors, the company turns that garbage into completely new products, either by reusing the items' raw material components or repurposing the waste in its current form. In 2019, the company launched Loop, a circular shopping system through which brands deliver products to consumers in reusable packaging.   "Our purpose is to eliminate the idea of waste," says Michael Waas, global VP of brand partnerships at the Trenton, N.J.-based company.   To date, more than 202 million people in 21 countries have helped to collect and recycle waste through TerraCycle's 75-plus recycling programs in the U.S. and 250 globally. Moreover, the company has raised more than $44 million for charity, thanks to a system by which consumers earn points for every shipment of waste they send and then redeem those points in the form of a donation to the cause of their choice.   Szaky spent the first few years in business struggling to stay afloat; he also dropped out of college. Eventually, he got his product on the shelves of Walmart and The Home Depot.   Then, in 2007, Szaky had an epiphany: If he could make fertilizer out of waste, then maybe he could make anything out of waste. Further, if he could collect the stuff efficiently and find a new purpose and value for it, he could eliminate the very concept of waste. To do that, Waas says, the company needed a collection program that was "easy for consumers to access and use wherever they happen to be located."   Building on the so-called "Bottle Brigade," a volunteer system created to gather used soda bottles for the company's fertilizer products, Szaky developed a unique collection method that involves enlisting schools, individual consumers, and other organizations to collect vast amounts of specific items — from used chewing gum and cigarette butts to shampoo bottles and flip flops. The programs are funded by brands looking for ways to reduce their waste and win consumer loyalty.   All waste is delivered to TerraCycle, which works with processors to turn it into a raw material that manufacturers can use in new products. The company also upcycles some garbage, like plastic bags, and transforms it into tote bags and other items.   Today, TerraCycle provides recycling solutions for more than 300 waste streams. Its brand partners include a roster of consumer packaged goods heavyweights and retailers, recycling product packaging for items like Colgate toothpaste and Capri Sun beverages. In 2017, for example, Procter & Gamble's Head & Shoulders shampoo brand and TerraCycle launched a program to collect plastic garbage on beaches globally and turn the garbage into shampoo and dish soap bottles. Since then, Head & Shoulders has produced more than one million bottles made with recycled beach plastic in more than 10 countries.   Now, Szaky is moving the company in a new direction with the introduction of Loop. Consumers pay a refundable deposit when purchasing reusable packaged goods; the containers are then picked up by a delivery service, cleaned, refilled, and shipped out again. Brands pick up part of the tab by designing and making the new packaging themselves. More than 300 items are available, from Tide detergent to Häagen-Dazs ice cream.   TerraCycle has experienced considerable growth, with annual revenues of around $32 million and a workforce of 350 employees. In 2018, the company acquired Air Cycle, a recycler of fluorescent light bulbs, among other items.   Waas shares additional insights on the company with the ANA Center for Brand Purpose.  

Recycling company works with brands to turn garbage into new products

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, many high-profile sustainability initiatives have taken a back seat to single-use packaging, with many grocery stores banning reusable bags and Starbucks no longer accepting refillable mugs. Despite this, Loop is going all in on reusable packaging, launching its waste-free CPG delivery platform nationwide through retailers Walgreens and Kroger with heavyweight brand partners including PepsiCo, Nestlé and Unilever. Loop, which launched a pilot last spring in New York and Paris, sells products like Nature’s Path granola and Haagen Dazs ice cream, with products from beverage brands like Chameleon Cold Brew and Tropicana currently in development. It also offers household and personal care items from companies like Procter & Gamble and The Clorox Company. The products are offered in reusable jars and containers delivered to consumers in a reusable tote, and when the containers are empty, consumers pack them up in the tote and schedule a pickup with partner UPS, who sends them to be cleaned and sterilized. If consumers have a subscription (about 30% of Loop users do), returning a container triggers the purchase of a new item to be sent. Non-subscribers put down a small deposit on the container and get it back when it’s returned. “Loop tries as best as it can to emulate the convenience of disposability to make it feel like a disposable system,” said Loop CEO Tom Szaky, who is also CEO of parent company TerraCycle. The worries surrounding reusability that have arisen amidst the COVID-19 pandemic haven’t seemed to apply to Loop, said Szaky, though they have been experiencing similar supply chain backups as other food and beverage companies. Though the nationwide online launch with Walgreens and Kroger was already in the works, it’s actually been accelerated to early this summer as more consumers have shifted to purchasing products online. “It’s not that single use is safe or unsafe, it’s not like reusable is safe or unsafe, it’s how you deploy those ideas that makes it safe or unsafe,” he said. “It’s the systems behind it that govern safety.” TerraCycle’s larger mission is to “eliminate the idea of waste,” said Szaky, through collecting and recycling materials that are not traditionally recyclable, like toothbrushes and candy wrappers, and also integrating waste back into products, like using ocean plastic in a Head & Shoulders bottle. With Loop, Szaky has taken the goal of waste elimination one step further, starting a division that “tries to solve waste without it ever occurring.” The root cause of waste is using things once, but single-use packaging hasn’t always been the norm, said Szaky, with milk bottles delivered by a milkman being a prime example. In fact, it only rose to prominence in the mid-1900s as packaging moved from being the property of the manufacturer to property of the consumer. “Do you want to own a coffee cup when there’s no coffee in it, or own a toothpaste tube when there’s no toothpaste in it?” said Szaky. “Why should we?” Owning the packaging comes at the price of the consumer, and as packaging is made cheaper, it’s usually made less recyclable. To address this problem, Loop partners with CPG companies to create reusable versions of their products that lower their carbon footprint, in a concept that Szaky said is “sort of like the idea of organic but instead of caring about farming practices, we care about reusability.” According to Szaky, brands are motivated to join Loop for two reasons: they get to innovate in ways they never have before, and they’re able to upgrade their sustainability. Once brands partner with Loop (and pay an onboarding fee), the company works with them to support the creation of sustainable packaging, like stainless steel ice cream containers and glass jars for beverages and nut butter. “Loop provides a much-needed innovation platform, challenging companies to take a fresh look at our value chains and integrate reusable product packaging as part of our efforts to waste-reduction,” said Laurent Freixe, Nestlé CEO for Zone Americas, in a press statement. “Nestlé is proud to be a founding investor and partner of Loop with the debut in the U.S of the Häagen-Dazs reusable container. It’s a critical part of our commitment to work with consumers to protect our planet for future generations.” Because new product development takes time, it can take from one to two years from the time brands sign on to the platform to actually begin shipping product to consumers. Szaky said of the 400 brands that have signed on, about 100 are currently shipping within the Loop system and the rest are in various stages of development. Partners like PepsiCo’s Tropicana orange juice, Purely Elizabeth granola, oatmeal and bars, Canadian brand Greenhouse’s kombucha and Nestle’s Chameleon Cold Brew are still in development. Retailers like Walgreens and Kroger are first launching Loop stores digitally, offering a selection of Loop products on their respective websites, before brick-and-mortar rollouts this fall where Loop will have its own section in the stores. Loop will also be rolling out in the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and Japan. The company has also created its own private label brand, Puretto, to test consumer interest. Puretto items, which include products like cheddar crackers, pretzels and bagel chips, are usually sold for six to 12 months, long enough to show proof of concept, and indicate that a national brand is considering developing a product for the category. While individual companies, not Loop, ultimately set the price for items, Szaky said prices are typically kept close to that of the original product. In a time when certain products like baking ingredients or cleaning wipes are seeing online surges, there hasn’t been a push for one particular item on Loop. According to Szaky, products typically don’t perform “better or worse” on the platform. “If you buy a certain ecosystem of products and you like the idea of reusable, you’re buying that same ecosystem of products, but now in reusable,” he said.

CAMBRIDGE (CBS) — Home delivery services for groceries have been booming during the coronavirus pandemic. One of those companies has an added environmental benefit.   Loop is selling food and cleaning supplies in reusable metal containers that can be returned and shipped out again.   “Loop is the milkman re-imagined,” said company executive Anthony Rossi. “We are bringing that idea of the refillable milk bottle to thousands of different products.” Liz Walker of Cambridge was motivated to cut back on the waste she created in her home. “The climate crisis is the most important issue. It’s so existential,” she said.   Reusable Loop containers (WBZ-TV) Her concern comes as cities and towns have been struggling to keep up with recycling since China stopped accepting our single-stream recycled material. So she began ordering coffee, rice, and personal care items like shampoo from Loop. When the containers are empty, she sends them back and they are cleaned, refilled and shipped out to another customer. Many of the items on Loop’s grocery list are generic staples. But the company has also teamed up with some well-known national brands like Haagen Dasz. “It’s in a special container that keeps it cool,” Walker said. Price can be a downside for Walker, with a pound of pasta going for $5, but Loop expects prices to fall as the company grows. Walker is also concerned about the environmental impact of the deliveries but Loop is working on that, too.   Liz Walker orders from Loop (WBZ-TV) “We are going to bring Loop in-store as well, which is why we are partnering with Kroger and Wallgreens,” Rossi said. The first items available in those retail stores are expected to be out on the west coast later this year. There is no timeline for retail stores in Massachusetts. Walker hopes other companies will get the message that consumers are choosing their brands based on environmental impact. “I think companies are listening. A lot of people are thinking about this problem now,” she said.

The fairy tale of recycling — and it is a fairy tale — does not start at the register, or the curb, or even hovering over the kitchen trash can, licking the yogurt top clean, and wondering if it's good enough. No, the story we Americans believe in begins in our hearts, put there lovingly by Sesame Street puppets, parents, and teachers: Place your depleted bottle in that blue bin and soon enough it will be reincarnated — or smooshed or melted down or however, whatever — into something new. Maybe the two of you will meet again. We are a generation raised to believe in recycling. Too bad it rarely happens. Only nine percent of all plastic waste ever produced has actually been turned into something that we were then able to use again (i.e., recycled). Wait, what? And also: Wait, why? There are two main reasons. One, that waste has to be disposed of perfectly correctly, which is difficult even for those with the best intentions. A bottle cap, a shard of glass, traces of tomato soup... they contaminate the entire bin and typically condemn everything in it to landfill-ville. But honestly, the stuff was probably headed there anyway because of the second reason: For waste to be recycled, someone needs to want it. And pretty much no one does. (The exception is aluminum — there's money to be made there, and more often than not, it gets recycled.) China was willing to take our recyclable trash for a while, but that party ended a couple of years ago with the country's ban on the import of foreign trash. So where does that leave us? With a new sustainability motto, already promulgated by cities such as San Francisco: reduce, reuse, recycle, refuse. "Buy less, use less, buy in bulk, use resealable containers," says Sonya Lunder of the Sierra Club's Gender, Equity & Environment program. And yes, do your damnedest to sort your trash. But do not pass off all the responsibility to a blue bin. It's on you. Thankfully, experts are here to help. In a world where "recycling" doesn't exactly mean what we thought it meant but we still want clean hair and crimson lips, how do we imagine a world without packaging? It requires expert foresight and a little wishful thinking. Julie Corbett is the closest thing to a sustainable packaging oracle that we've got. Corbett, the founder of Ecologic, is behind such innovations as Seed Phytonutrients' shower-friendly paper shampoo bottles. And the future she sees might not be what you expect. Or what you want to hear. You may have heard about the problem with pumps. Often presented as the white whale of the sustainable packaging community, pumps are typically made out of two or more types of plastic and a metal spring. Short story: "The pump will never be recyclable, no matter what people say," says Corbett. She predicts there will be a new breed of pump, made of recycled plastic, which is better than the current situation. But her ultimate solution is a bit more radical: Standardized pumps, purchased somewhat like a knife set, and used for decades for everything from cleansing oil to dish soap. "I call it the liquefication of America," says Corbett. "We're addicted to plastics because we've liquefied everything." The only way out is to move toward solid and powdered products — and to invest in new beauty technology. (Like a just-add-water moisturizer, for example. We're ready!) But even bars are not devoid of packaging — where else would the ingredient list go? But Corbett has a solution for that too: "It's going to involve technology. Maybe at the store, you'll have a touch screen that will tell you what the ingredients are before you buy." For those wondering why we can't just use glass for all that liquid America sloshing around: Glass is heavy, expensive, and carbon-polluting to ship. And that's just part of the problem: The recycling process for glass releases more greenhouse gases than plastic or aluminum do. And it pretty easily pollutes the recycling stream. "Everyone is asking why [the big beauty brands] don't use more glass," says Corbett. "It's because they've all made carbon commitments to lower their footprints, and glass will increase them." Instead let's ask the big beauty brands another question: "Where can I buy parchment-wrapped wafers that mix with water to make a facial essence?" Recycling giant TerraCycle's Loop program, which launched last year, has a solution to the packaging problem: What if we used reusable, refillable packaging for...every single product in the world? The concept is a simple return to the days of the milkman, only now you're putting down a deposit on a reusable aluminum shampoo bottle, delivered to (and later picked up at) your door in a reusable fabric box. You can now get Pantene Pro-V shampoo, Gillette razors, and more in nine states, Washington, D.C., and two regions in France, and there are plans to expand to the West Coast, Canada, Japan, and the U.K. this year. Loop's service, ambitious and utopian, provides a hint that refillable, standard packaging could be the future.