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Loop Review: A Waste-Free Packaging Service For Returning Containers

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The service promises to help you cut waste. It’s better at emptying your wallet. When I first heard about Loop, a reusable packaging service designed to help cut down on waste, I couldn’t wait to try it. As a conscious consumer, I am proud of my reusable straws and grocery bags, but I struggle to find affordable, plastic-free alternatives to some of my favorite food brands and household items like shampoo. Plastic packaging has become a frequent target of activist groups campaigning against the deluge of garbage entering the oceans. Items like candy wrappers and soda bottles are some of the most common pieces of trash found on beaches during cleanup efforts, and a handful of giant consumer goods companies are largely responsible for the mess. Several of these companies, including Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Nestle and Coca-Cola, have partnered with Loop, redesigning some of their products’ packaging to discourage people from trashing it. Launched by recycling company TerraCycle, Loop delivers products from name brands like Clorox and Hidden Valley in packaging that can be returned, refilled and redistributed. The service made its debut to much fanfare at the World Economic Forum in January. The returnable, reusable containers are meant to stay in circulation longer than traditional packaging in an attempt to slash not only waste but also climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions. But does it really work in practice? That’s what I wanted to find out. Loop launched a beta test in May, and I signed up for a trial membership over the summer and used the service for two months. Spoiler alert: It wasn’t exactly what I expected. For an in-depth look at what it’s like to use Loop, check out our full review below.

LOOP Haagen-Dazs ice cream in a metal tin, designed for the Loop service.

HOW IT WORKS

After creating a personal account on the Loop store website, you can start shopping. Available products include groceries and items for housecleaning and personal hygiene. The most popular things sold on the service so far have been cleaning products, such as Cascade dishwasher pods and Clorox disinfectant wipes; foods like Häagen-Dazs ice cream; and personal care items, including Pantene shampoo and conditioner, according to Loop representative Lauren Taylor. I placed two orders over the course of my trial, purchasing rolled oats, dry salted almonds, nut butter, coffee, all-purpose cleaner and gummy bears for my first order, and just coffee and oats for my second. They all came in metal containers except for the nut butter, which was in a glass jar. I was disappointed to find that the service offers only a limited number of products, and I was stunned at how much it costs to buy this stuff from the Loop website. (More on that later.) The goods are shipped within two days through UPS and arrive in a very sturdy and large tote bag. Once you’ve emptied the reusable containers, you load up the tote and send them back to be cleaned for reuse. You don’t have to ship all your empties back at the same time ― which makes sense because, as I discovered, my gummy bear supply doesn’t run out at the same rate as my all-purpose cleaner supply. You can also set up your account to automatically refill products in your tote. Loop is currently available in only a few states along the East Coast: New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont, and in Washington, D.C. It also ships to Paris. Next year Loop will expand to London, Toronto, California, Germany and Tokyo, Taylor told HuffPost. She didn’t share how many users have signed up so far, but she said Loop will add more brands and products to its online store as more people use the service. Joan Marc Simon, executive director of Zero Waste Europe, called Loop “a good initiative with the best intentions,” adding that there’s a lot that needs to change about it. I agree, but there are also some great things about the service, so let’s start there.

LOOP Procter & Gamble, one of the multinationals that partnered with Loop, designed packages for multiple brands — from personal hygiene products to cleaning supplies — to be sold on Loop’s website.

WHAT YOU’LL LIKE

1) It’s not too complicated to use

Disposable packaging is tough to quit because it’s incredibly easy and convenient. For a service like Loop to be successful, it has to be as simple and hassle-free as throwing out a candy wrapper, said Simon. Loop isn’t quite as simple as that, but it’s not too difficult to figure out. The online shopping experience was smooth, and the goods arrived as described on the website. Returning Loop’s big tote bag with the empty canisters was easy enough, though not as easy as taking out the trash or recycling. I made a quick pitstop on my morning commute to drop off the goods at a UPS and a day later received an email confirmation that my empty products had been received and a deposit refund was on its way to my credit card.

2) It’ll make you feel good about yourself

As someone who reads and writes a fair amount about plastic, I have serious guilt over my consuming habits. Every plastic soap dispenser or soda bottle I toss away contributes to my sense of personal failure. Even though I bought only a few items from Loop, those were items that didn’t end up in my trash can. Taylor said that Loop has “prevented the manufacturing of thousands of single-use, disposable packaging.” Simon agreed that reusing packages with Loop makes sense as a way to reduce waste. Knowing that Loop was helping me slash my plastic use, even in a small way, made me feel good.

3) It will change the way you think about waste

Testing Loop deepened my sensitivity to waste and made me want to be more proactive. I became more skeptical about the materials around me: Did I have to buy a plastic tub of coffee grounds, or could I wait a day to stop by the store that offers beans in bulk? It seems promising that Loop has convinced several large consumer goods companies to rethink packaging, and it’s easy to envision a world where every company follows suit. Erik Loomis, a history professor at the University of Rhode Island, cautioned me about being too optimistic: By touting their participation in so-called sustainable programs, these companies get an image boost that distracts from how they operate on a global scale and discourages the public from asking what they could be doing better. “If we’re going to actually deal with climate change, we have to deal with the big questions that hold corporations responsible,” Loomis said. Fair enough.

WHAT YOU’LL DISLIKE

1) It’s not cheap, and the product range is limited

It’s easy to rack up a large bill with Loop. Though there’s no membership fee (hooray!), there are plenty of other costs built in. You not only have to purchase the products and cover shipping costs, you also must pay a deposit for each reusable container, since you’re essentially renting those from the company. The tote bag is a $15 deposit, and a glass jar of cake mix requires a $3 deposit, while a bottle of body wash takes a $5 deposit. It adds up fast. My first order came to a whopping $85.70. For only six items! To be fair, $32 was for packaging deposits and $20 was for shipping. And I snagged a $20 discount as a first-time customer. For my second round of orders, I bought only two more products, so the total was $37 with the deposits. After using the service for two months, buying a total of eight products and receiving refunds for all my deposits, I paid a total of $69.70. (HuffPost provided funds for the purposes of reporting this piece.) Some of the products in Loop’s online market seemed overly expensive to me. Part of the issue here is that Loop offers just one brand per product (for now), with no cheaper, off-brand alternatives to choose from. Never before have I purchased a $14 nut butter ($16, including the jar deposit), but there were no other options. I can usually find similar goods at my supermarket for less than I can on Loop’s website because there’s more choice outside Loop and I can hunt for a bargain.

LOOPProduct selections are limited on Loop’s website. Some categories offer only one choice. If something you want seems too pricey — like this $14 nut butter — you can’t shop around for a better deal. Some of these prices are prohibitive if you’re on a tight budget. Which made me wonder if the service would ever become affordable for people who don’t have piles of extra money lying around. Loomis said services like Loop turn environmentalism into “a consumer movement,” something that can be practiced only by well-off people. Right now, Loop is too burdensome for the average working person. The service, he said, appears to have been created “by rich people for rich people.” Taylor said that Loop will keep partnering with additional brands to offer more choices and that most of the current prices are “comparable” to what you’d see in a brick-and-mortar store. She said that Loop doesn’t want to be a luxury service made just for the rich.

2) It’s not totally waste-free

The whole point of Loop is to slash the amount of trash produced by shopping. The company even developed a reusable tote bag to avoid cardboard boxes and packing material. But when my first order arrived, I noticed something odd: Every item, including the tote bag, comes with a plastic seal on it! I asked Taylor about this, and she said it’s a quality control measure. The seals are meant to prove that items haven’t been tampered with during shipping. You can actually send back the plastic seals, along with your empties, to be recycled, Taylor added. Loop’s parent company operates a number of experimental programs for hard-to-recycle items like these. So you don’t have to worry about the plastic wraps ending up in a landfill or an incinerator.

KATE BRATSKEIR My tin of rolled oats, with the clear plastic seal around the lid. Loop says you can send these seals back with your empties to be recycled by its parent company, which specializes in hard-to-recycle items. When it comes to reducing greenhouse emissions, the results are murkier. Online shopping can in some instances have a smaller carbon footprint than in-person shopping, but there are many factors at play here, and they’re tough to measure. I’ll point out, though, that fast shipping uses more resources ― and Loop ships pretty quickly. Using the service instead of driving a car to the store is probably less carbon-intensive, said Simon, especially if lots of people sign up for Loop. “One shipping vehicle can transport [totes] for hundreds of families, which is better than having hundreds of families driving to the supermarket individually,” Simon said. But, in my case, I would have walked to the grocery store instead of driving, so I’m not convinced that having goods delivered to my door by truck is my best option for slashing emissions.

3) It takes up a lot of space

The Loop tote bag is huge. Seriously huge. It drove me and my husband crazy, occupying all that precious floorspace in the living room of our teeny New York City apartment. We also don’t have a lot of countertop space to hoard the reusable containers. Though Loop didn’t totally fit my lifestyle, it might work just fine for someone with more storage space.

4) Sometimes visiting the corner store is just more convenient

It takes a couple of days for the service to send you new items when you run out. That’s not a huge inconvenience, but it could be a problem if you’re waiting on a product you use every day, like bath soap or shampoo. On its website, Loop recommends ordering everyday products two at a time, in case you run out unexpectedly. Ordering two bottles of shampoo is easy in theory, but it takes some getting used to if you’re not a big online shopper, which I’m not.

LOOP Look at the size of the Loop tote. It’s huge. And if you live in a tiny apartment, like me, its size is kind of a pain.

THE TAKEAWAY

After using Loop for two months, I decided it’s not the best fit for me. The service isn’t quite ready for prime time, though parts of the experience I liked. I was willing to put up with some inconveniences ― such as paying the deposits on Loop’s reusable containers and stuffing the enormous tote bag behind my couch ― if it meant I’d create less waste. But ultimately the price of buying items through the service was too steep. I would definitely try it again in the future if it were cheaper and the product selection improved. Loomis, the history professor, thinks it’ll take more than that for Loop to succeed at replacing plastic packaging. “If you want to make [reusable packaging] accessible, you need the government’s investment to make it part of American policy rather than a boutique consumer item.” When I asked Simon, the zero-waste expert, if he thought Loop would ever go mainstream, he wasn’t overly optimistic. “I hope the system succeeds, but for the moment I would be surprised if it does,” said Simon. “It definitely needs to be fine-tuned and simplified, but I guess that is the rationale behind the pilot: to learn from mistakes before scaling up.” Taylor said the service will get better as it grows. She added that Loop isn’t meant to be a silver bullet for plastic waste: “There is no single solution to solve the waste crisis we are in.” Charlotte Maiden Publicist, U.S. Public Relations Loop Global Office: (609)-393-4252 ext. 3712 Cell: (732)-865-6154 1 TerraCycle Way Trenton, NJ 08638 USA www.terracycle.com Eliminating the Idea of Waste® Please consider the planet before printing. This email and any attachments thereto may contain private, confidential, and privileged material for the sole use of the intended recipient. Any review, copying, or distribution of this email (or any attachments thereto) by others is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender immediately and permanently delete the original and any copies of this email and any attachments thereto.

Sustainability Is The New Black

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This season, we’ve seen a number of retailers and brands offering new, sustainable ways to enjoy fall fashions -- making the act of completing your perfect look good for your wallet and the planet. Of course sustainability isn’t a new trend per se, but we’re seeing it take shape in an entirely different way across the retail industry. Companies like Express, American Eagle, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Nike and Urban Outfitters all launched subscription or rental services for their clothes/products, seemingly taking a page out of successful business platforms like Stitch Fix and Rent the Runway (currently the largest drycleaner globally!!) who offer clothes through personalized boxes or rent-to-own basis. A recent survey by ratings and review platform Clutch found that more than half of online shoppers (54%) are members of subscription box services. Luxury consignment platform The Real Real is also growing, with reported earnings projecting its revenue will jump 51% to $71 million versus a year ago. The trend of subscription boxes and rentals is more than just about busy consumers who are on the go and don’t want to invest in updating their wardrobe every season. It also pinpoints a shift in the retail industry as more companies are looking to become environmentally stable. According to eMarketer, for luxury marketers, all circular business models are profitable on a per-garment basis, with rental being the most notable (61%), followed by resale (39%) and subscription rental (30%). On top of that, consumers are clearly more focused on reducing the amount of waste they create. Brands like J.Crew and H+M are making it easier with their garment recycling programs to help create a sustainable fashion future. And companies like TerraCycle are making sustainability more accessible with their Loop offering, which combats single-use waste. Brands are quickly trying to get involved in the initial pilot and many are attracted to the old “milkman model” of having products delivered to your doors and empties taken to be washed, refilled and brought back. L’Oreal has also made strides to offer more recyclable packaging and containers. We’ll still see a bit of a paradox when it comes to Gen Z -- one of the most environmentally-conscious demographics -- as they struggle with their commitment to the environment and the attractiveness of what’s new and now. Despite all this, they know they can get better deals on fashions that are also good for the environment. Forever 21’s recent store closings are one clear example of the fact that producing inexpensive clothing at scale while operating expensive retail locations cannot compete with nimble, digital businesses and their social/influencer marketing efforts. Only time will tell if the industry’s youngest consumers are encouraging this move to a more sustainable model, but they will demand that brands be authentic and not just create purpose marketing for the sake of saving face. Amidst all of these changes, brands are still looking for ways to acquire customers, better understand them and keep them. Consumers don’t need more choices--they just need simpler solutions that save time and money. Adding sustainability on top of convenience and relevancy is one way for brands to quickly attract new customers. But marketers also need to have a true, authentic connection with consumers and they need to pay attention to the things that matter, like investing in the right materials that are also good for the environment (i.e. metal straws, bento box packaging, etc.). More importantly, they must have leaders in place who are focused on saving the planet and humanity versus driven by shareholder value at any cost. One thing is for certain: when you think about the future of your brand, you'd better make sure it’s end-to-end purpose-based: built to be better for the planet, better for you and better for humanity.

Risk Takers: 20 leaders. 20 big bets. All designed to push global business forward.

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Tom has been named to the 2019 list CNN’s Risk Takers. He’s in good company, as you’ll see if you click on the link. The air date for Tom’s feature has yet to be determined. In the meantime, you can click on Tom’s picture for a summary of what his full piece will be about.

This Company is Designing Reusable Packaging For Major Corporations

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One company is working with giants like Tide and Häagen-Dazs to re-fill, reuse and deliver household staples right to your door. Household products, toiletries, food, and more currently utilize single-use plastic containers and wrappers that end up in the trash. One company is changing that with reusable, refillable packaging. Tom Szaky is the CEO and Founder of TerraCycle, based in New Jersey, and he says his mission is to make recycling a convenient and streamlined part of everyday life.

For nearly 20 years, Szaky has been working with some of the biggest companies in the country to create recycling-friendly packaging for their products, and now, he has a new division called Loop, which “feels like disposability as much as absolutely possible,” explains Szaky. While the service, in some ways, is a mimicry of people’s existing bad habits, Szaky says that minimal effort on the part of consumers is key in making a big change. “The more we ask a consumer to do, the less likely they are going to take part,” he adds. “A few years ago we started thinking about, ‘how do we solve waste at the root cause?’” - Tom Szaky, TerraCycle Loop will refill everything from your laundry detergent, to your favorite ice cream in reusable packages that are easy to ship out. As of now, they’ve partnered with Kroger and Walgreens, and the service will soon be coming to Detroit locations. “A few years ago we started thinking about, ‘how do we solve waste at the root cause?’ and we believe the root cause of waste is using something once and throwing it out. From that question came a new division called Loop which is all about shifting packaging from single use and disposable to multi-use and reusable, without feeling like a reusable system,” says Szaky.

Click on the player to hear TerraCycle’s Tom Szaky talk about the challenges of single-use packaging.

IS RECYCLING REALLY WORTH THE EFFORT?

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In the Western world, people have generally got the message about recycling. Over the last 10-20 years, we’ve stopped throwing everything into landfill and have begun to take more responsibility for tossing recyclable materials into separate bins. In fact, in some parts of the world, people now have nearly half a dozen different bins to recycle everything from plastic packaging to paper to food to glass bottles. THE FORCE OF INNOVATION But…is recycling really worth the effort? The sad reality is that over half of the items we put into the recycling bin aren’t even recycled at all. In the USA, only around 9% of all plastic is recycled, and what is given a second life is likely to have a huge CO2 footprint, as it’s probably shipped to a developing country for sorting and processing. In fact, we pass off such a huge quantity of trash labelled as ‘recyclable’ to other countries that they are starting to refuse it – China and the Philippines being the two most current examples. Businesses in particular are reluctant to recycle because unlike households, they’re often charged for baling cardboard and other waste, and whilst costs are high now, these are expected to increase in the future. That’s discouraging, because businesses generally create more rubbish than the average household. Oh, and be careful you throw out the right kind of plastic into your bin, as even a small amount of the wrong type can cause an entire batch of recycled plastic to become contaminated. So, does that mean we – households and businesses alike – should stop recycling altogether? Or is there a better way?

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Is Recycling Really Worth The Effort? If you think your bottles, packaging and tins just go into some magic recycling machine that makes them into other materials, well, you’re wrong. Here’s what generally happens when you recycle say, a plastic bottle: 1. Materials are collected from household bins. These are usually mixed plastic, paper, and aluminium that need to be separated by companies (and it’s not cheap to do so!). Around half of all materials received by the recycling company are not actually recyclable due to being the wrong type of material or too dirty, and will be incinerated or thrown into landfill. 2. When the plastics have been separated from metals and papers, they’re then sorted into type of plastic and sometimes, colour. 3. The plastics are run through a shredding machine. Afterwards, the shreds are washed, dried and melted. 4. The melted plastic is transformed by a large machine into flakes, which can then be spun into a very fine ‘thread’ like cotton candy. 5. These threads are used by industry to make a wide variety of products, from clothing and carpets to packaging and new bottles. The saddest part of this is that even when used materials are perfectly and easily recycled, they tend to be made into ‘lesser’ products. A plastic bottle, for example, may be processed into unrecyclable packaging materials that end up in landfill. So, recycling often only delays the inevitable pollution by say, one disposable product’s lifetime.

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Greenwashing Is Rampant The problem with today’s current recycling programs is that they just don’t work. As mentioned above, half of all rubbish tossed into ‘recycling’ bins isn’t actually recycled, but it does give the consumer the sense of satisfaction that it’s ‘ok’ to buy stuff in plastic packaging because it can be recycled – though often, this is not the case. The best example? Coffee shops like Starbucks, Tim Hortons, Dunkin’ Donuts etc all have recycling bins in store for their coffee cups. They ask customers to throw out organic waste in one bin, coffee cups and plastics in another, and paper in another. But guess what? Apart from Tetrapaks, one of the most un-recyclable items we use every day are takeaway cups. Why? Because they’re lined with a fine film of plastic that’s impossible to separate from the paper cup- and which doesn’t biodegrade. And if that’s not bad enough, consider this: a whopping 6.5 million trees are cut down each year, just to make takeaway cups. Think of how many entire forests that is! If you love coffee and tea on the go, please always bring your own refillable cup (and that goes for water, too – take your own thermos with you!) After all, is recycling really worth the effort when you can eliminate the need for disposable products in the first place?

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Better Solutions A better solution is obviously to cut out plastic altogether from the product’s lifecycle. Plastic only became popular in consumer markets around one generation ago, and we did just fine without it before. But since younger generations are more accustomed to using this material, we should be using only biodegradable plastics made from plant based materials. These do exist, and they are fairly cheap to make. The problem is that the plastics industry is tightly connected to the petroleum industry, which is still very powerful. Alternatively, the responsibility for recycling plastic could be placed where it properly belongs: in the hands of the manufacturers. If they are forced to pay for the disposal of their own products, you can bet that they’ll quickly switch to the cheapest option, which is often reuse. For example, glass bottles were once the only option for purchasing soft drinks, and because the manufacturer could re-use them, deposits were left. So, if you bought a Coke for £1, you’d also have to pay a 10 cent deposit fee, which would be refunded when you returned the bottle to the shop. The bottle would then be collected by Coke to refill. This is called a closed loop recycling system, and it’s older than you think. The same system was used by milk delivery trucks to refill milk bottles when the stuff was sold in glass. It’s only recently that drinks have been packaged in Tetrapaks (which are 100% non-recyclable) and plastic bottles. A closed-loop recycling process, on the other hand, ensures we get the maximum amount of use out of any material, reducing the amount that ends up in landfill.

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Tech – And Creativity – Can Help Within 20 years, I predict that there will be a closed-loop recyclability index (CLR) displayed on every product, indicating both the sustainability of the manufacturing process and the cash value of the packaging once recycled using an appliance like ReCircle. Just like ingredient labelling on food, the CLR will influence what we as consumers decide to buy. As with plastic alternatives, technological innovations can further help to reduce waste. For example, the ReCircle appliance uses sensors to identify and segment different types of plastic, glass and metal. The appliance then washes and grinds the recyclable materials for storage in its base. These pure materials are then picked up by recycling companies, and the best part? The recycler is reimbursed for the weight of recycled materials. Appliances like this encourage all of us to recycle by offering monetary incentives, and since they only provide pure, recyclable base materials, they are a key step towards achieving 100% closed-loop recycling and helping to empower households to make purchasing decisions which take into account a product’s lifecycle assessment – after all, if you could buy product A which isn’t recyclable, or product B for the same price – but you’d be helping the planet and getting a bit of extra cash when you use the ReCircle app…well, the choice is a no-brainer. Creative entrepreneurs have come up with other technological ideas that can reduce waste. Loop, for example, gives new life to everyday items from foods to plastic combs by transforming them into reusable packaging, which is delivered in a specialized reusable shipping tote. When finished with the product, the packaging is cleaned, collected, refilled and reused – creating a revolutionary, closed-loop shopping system. The Future Is Sustainable So, is recycling really worth the effort? The answer is yes – kind of. Metals and paper are much more easily recycled than plastic, and for that reason, I believe the latter should be completely phased out of most consumer products. After all, it’s plastic, not paper or tins, that has cause an island of waste three times the size of France floating in our oceans! The worst part of plastic recycling schemes in general is that the public doesn’t think twice about consuming stuff packaged in plastic – the attitude is ‘oh well, I can just recycle it.” But as I explained above, plastic is a problem. Period. Fortunately, people are becoming more aware of the problems with recycling, and are demanding change from their governments. For example, in January 2019, UK Prime Minister Theresa May pledged to eliminate the UK’s plastic waste by 2042, and many countries, including Mexico, England, Burma, India and Rwanda have banned free plastic bags in stores. But how do we ensure such promises aren’t yet another greenwash? After all, the UK already said they were banning free plastic bags, but those are still readily available in any supermarket – the 3 cent charge doesn’t really deter anyone from using them. Still, my vision of the future is a positive one. More innovative technological solutions and plastic alternatives are being created all the time, and it seems Generation Z is particularly enthusiastic about ending plastic – after all, it is their future.

Dove Products Make Some Real Big Promises About Its Use Of Plastic

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Unilever's Dove brand will use only 100% recycled plastic bottles in North America and Europe by the end of 2019 -- “where technically feasible,” it says -- and will package single packs of Dove in plastic-free material around the world starting next year. “Development is also underway to replace the plastic outer wrap of beauty bar multipacks with a zero-plastic material,” Unilever reports. More radically, earlier this year, Unilever disclosed that Dove, Degree and Axe will begin testing new stick deodorant containers made of stainless steel designed to be reused and refilled up to 100 times. Calculating that a consumer would use one stick a month, that container could last more than eight years. Dove also reiterated its plans for this development on Monday. But for now -- or at least the near future -- the move to recycled plastic for containers will apply for Dove and its branch brands, Dove Men+Care and Baby Dove. “Dove continues to search for solutions where recycled plastic is not currently technically feasible, including for caps and pumps,” it says. A Nielsen report says 73% of millennials will pay more for a product made from sustainable material, and now many packages boldly boast their environmental qualifications for consumers to see. Many major brands are working on similar initiatives, but Dove says it’s ahead of the pack. “By taking these steps, Dove will be the biggest brand in the world that has moved to 100% recycled packaging," says Richard Slater, Unilever chief research and development officer, in a statement. “This should send a clear signal to the global recycling industry that there is a huge consumer demand for recycled packaging. We will continue to innovate across our brands to change the way we use plastic for good.” Earlier this month, Unilever committed itself to cutting its use of virgin plastic by half -- that's more than 100,000 tons -- by 2025, and to helping to collect and process more plastic packaging than it sells. It claims those goals make it the “first major global consumer goods company to commit to an absolute plastics reduction across its portfolio.” For the recyclable deodorant sticks, Unilever is working with a Trenton, New Jersey company named Terra Cycle whose Loop system is not only being tested on several Unilever products worldwide but also by products from Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Nestle and other major brands. Under the arrangement that Unilever announced earlier, consumers would order goods from the Loop website and have them delivered conventionally. But customers will pay a deposit. When they are done, they can bring it to a retailer for a refill, or return it for a refund. The containers are cleaned and reused. ' Loop is also testing a delivery plan for a wide variety of consumer goods. Unilever has said it wants all of its plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. It believes it is making good progress, and says the company’’s packaging volume is now at the same level it was in 2010, despite “the business growing significantly.”

Practical recyclability is the only version of recyclability

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Tom Szaky is the founder and CEO of TerraCycle, a global leader in collecting and repurposing hard-to-recycle waste. The company also has played a big part in developing Loop™ – an innovative, online shopping concept challenging our reliance on single use packaging. In this column, Tom looks below the surface of recyclability claims and highlights the gap between technical recyclability and practical recyclability. In the past 24 months, people have come to realize the scope and severity of the global waste crisis, be it from documentaries such as David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II or a striking image of a turtle with a plastic straw in its nose circulating on social media. In response, governments have started passing laws banning single-use items and mandating producer responsibility, and consumers are demanding change. As a result, many product manufacturers have publicly announced commitments to incorporate significantly more post-consumer recycled (“PCR”) content in their products, as well as the bold claim that all of their packaging will be recyclable. All this by 2025—only five years away. Communicating the vision is the easy part, executing a whole different matter. UK nonprofit WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) reports two-thirds of the Plastics Pact (127 companies representing a majority of all packaging produced globally) have shown no progress on the 2017 pledge to offset their contributions to plastic pollution.

As one peels below the surface of commitments around recyclability, it becomes clear most signatories are promising technical recyclability and not practical recyclability. The former represents the ability for a package to be technically recycled without factoring in real world economics, including the question of whether the processing cost will be higher than its recovered value. Inversely, practical recyclability is the ability for a consumer to place that package in their recycling bin and have it actually recycled. This is dependent on not just the technical capacity to recycle a waste stream, but also a profitable and stable business model behind it. Those familiar with TerraCycle know we believe everything is technically recyclable, having proven items such as cigarettes, chewing gum, and even dirty diapers can be repurposed into material for new products. But those items are not accepted through conventional curbside programs and are thereby not practically recyclable outside specialty systems like ours. Noting here our systems rely on the financial support of brands, retailers, cities, and other organizations to function, the value of the recovered material is not enough to offset the logistics and processing costs of these waste streams in and of itself. Thus, it is imperative the clear distinction is made between technical and practical recyclability to avoid confusion, maintain transparency, and continue effective work towards measurable targets for materials recovery and waste reduction. Claiming 100% recyclability for an item that will only be recycled if the consumer must go out of their way to access a solution is a mismatch, as consumers only understand practical recyclability, not technical. Practical recyclability should be the only way we use the word recyclable. Everything else is confusing and misleading to consumers and even law makers, who are not waste management experts. Producers need to either focus on moving into reusable or recyclable packages with value to recyclers and produce highly separated material with a strong end-market, or pay the cost to collect and process them. Technical upgrades are not a silver bullet, but a fantastic start to better resource management. Providing individuals the choice of products they can actively keep in the materials economy requires clear and practical definitions. To that end, organizations that endorse recyclability, such as governments and industry coalitions, should demand proof that recycling is actually happening, in practice and in scale.

The modern milkman is here

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Lewes resident Jordan Woodall, one of the early customers of the Loop refillable product service in Delaware, shows some of the refillable containers and the reusable shipping tote in which the products are delivered. Companies are offering an in-home refillable product service to address growing trash and recycling problem As the world continues to confront a growing trash and recycling problem, some companies provide old-fashioned services with a modern twist. Like the milkman from days past, startups such as Loop, Blueland and others are rolling out e-commerce businesses that provide well-known name brand products to consumers’ homes in refillable containers. Loop debuted in several East Coast markets this past spring including Delaware. It started with the goal of reducing the solid waste these items would otherwise produce. Customers sign up online, and receive refillable containers for products they select in a reusable shipping tote, with a returnable cash deposit. When something runs low, they place an online order, and their refills arrive within 48 hours. Loop public relations manager Charlotte Maiden said they handle items from ice cream to toothpaste to cleaning products, with the goal of having numerous different brands on one platform. Loop’s parent company, New Jersey-based TerraCycle, has a few other programs for waste-conscious consumers, including one that recycles stuff most recycling centers don’t accept, Maiden said. “People are seeing the effects of excess garbage and climate change on a day to day basis,” Maiden said. “And we can’t recycle our way out of this problem.” For Lewes resident Jordan Woodall, signing up for Loop was done out of convenience, and concern for the environment. “I live kind of near the beach, so we tend to be careful about what could make its way into the ocean,” Woodall said. “I watch what I throw away and the garbage I generate.” Woodall drives an electric car and tries to reduce her carbon footprint whenever he’s able. Loop is part of that plan. They partner with UPS for deliveries instead of using an in-house logistics company, which would increase road traffic. For Woodall, who gets “a little bit of everything” from Loop, being consciously aware of the refuse and pollution issues is important in helping create a personal stake in the matter. “I am just more and more conscious of my use of plastics,” Woodall said. “And they’re so pervasive; everything is plastic or being shipped in plastic. I think this is the best way to minimize that.” Nationwide problem According to research and resource group Annenberg Learner, the U.S. generates roughly 230 million tons of trash per year – around 4.6 pounds per person per day. Less than one-quarter of that 230 million tons is recycled; the rest is incinerated or buried in landfills. In 2017, Delawareans disposed of 1,207,029 tons of solid waste, according to Michael Globetti, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control spokesman. They diverted 520,110 tons of material, giving the state a recycling rate of roughly 43 percent, which ranks Delaware high nationally, Globetti said. Recycling is mandatory in all three counties. In Delaware, solid waste is controlled and managed by the Division of Waste and Hazardous Substances through various programs on the regulatory side, and the Delaware Solid Waste Authority on the operational side. According to Globetti, DNREC regulates activities in accordance with the state’s Universal Recycling Law and Universal Recycling Regulations, which have requirements for haulers, multi-family property managers, and the commercial sector. The department issues permits for transporters moving waste to ensure that they operate in accordance with state and federal transportation standards, he said. Permits are also issued for solid waste activities. The treatment methods include recycling, composting, transferring, resource recovery, and disposal, he noted. “The permitting process is designed to ensure that facilities operate in a way to protect human health and the environment,” Globetti said. From an operations perspective, DSWA runs many facilities used by the public for solid waste disposal. There are three landfills and three transfer stations (one in each county), and a network of five convenience centers for drop-off throughout Kent and Sussex County.

The World’s Biggest Brands Commit To Tackling Plastic Pollution, But What Else Can Be Done?

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After World War II, the world experienced a plastics boom, with production growing at an exponential rate thanks to the material’s versatility and durability. Plastic touches nearly every aspect of our lives, from the materials used to construct buildings and homes, vehicles, and technology, to household products, clothing, and shoes. It is estimated that we have produced more than 8.3 billion tons of plastic since this time, of which less than 10% is recycled. That’s where the plastic pollution problem comes in. Many countries in the Global North turned to China to recycle their plastics, but ever since China changed its policy, the United States and many other countries are forced to find other avenues for taking care of their plastic waste and address the plastic pollution crisis back home.

Who is responsible for the crisis and what is being done?

Plastic pollution activists and coalitions have emphasized the responsibility that the world’s largest brands play in addressing this global crisis. Civil society members from more than 80 countries hosted brand audits through clean-ups during the #BrandAudit2019 initiative, calling on these brands to change their practices of manufacturing and selling products in single-use plastic packaging. Some big brands have taken responsibility for their role in plastic pollution and have taken action. Coca-Cola announced its World Without Waste initiative with the goals to achieve 100% recycled packaging using 50% recycled materials, and by 2030 collect and recycle one bottle or can for every item sold. Unilever made a similar announcement, promising to cut its use of virgin plastics by 50%, and collecting and processing its plastic packaging. One social enterprise is making it a little bit easier for big brands to shift their single-use plastic packaging practices. TerraCycle recently launched the Loop Store, a global circular shopping platform that allows customers to purchase products in zero waste packaging. Following the “milkman model”, products sold through the Loop Store are stored in reusable containers that are collected, washed, and reused again.

Innovations in tackling plastic pollution

Dutch inventor Boyan Slat founded The Ocean Cleanup, an ambitious project that aimed to collect the massive volume of plastic found in the oceans globally. At 2,000 feet in length, this plastic collection device has successfully collected plastic since its initial trials. Other entrepreneurs are developing products made from plant-based materials, such as utensils made from avocado seeds and creating faux leather using nopal, or producing products that do not require plastic packaging, in efforts to reduce our reliance on products made with plastic. Consumers, recognizing the power they hold by their purchasing behaviors, are also raising their concerns with companies to change their practices. In a recent petition to Trader Joe’s, customers called on grocery chain to reduce their reliance on plastic packaging, garnering over 120,000 signatures. The company acknowledged this grassroots call for change, providing a status update since their announcement in late 2018.

Conclusions and the future for tackling plastic pollution

While there is hope hearing the world’s biggest brands acknowledge the role they play in and their plans for curbing plastic pollution, it is evident that is not enough. It takes more than a few companies to set green goals in order to move the needle forward. We need to continue holding big brands accountable, foster and support new ideas that open new horizons for plastic packaging and waste, and change our own behaviors to start addressing the global plastic pollution crisis.

Loop – Reuse like the milkman

TerraCycle Mars Nestle Unilever Include USA Include Canada (English) Danone Procter & Gamble Loop Clorox Häagen-Dazs

Disposability was sold as a convenience in the post-war years of the 1950s, but it’s become a plague of plastic and nonrecyclable trash that now pollutes every corner of the world. It’s enough to make one nostalgic for the milkman—that reliable delivery person who not only dropped off milk in convenient glass bottles, but also picked them up again to be refilled and reused. Ah, those were the days… and we may see those days again. Loop—an online “circular shopping platform”—aims to revive the image and model of the milkman on a larger scale, offering customers door-to-door delivery of brand-name grocery store products in durable packaging that Loop will collect and use again.

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Reusability: Back to the future

“Loop is a very utopian idea,” says Tony Rossi, Loop’s Philadelphia-based vice president of business development. “About three years ago, our CEO challenged us and himself to really solve the idea of waste at its core.” For Loop, this means enabling brands and retailers—the heart of our “take, make, dispose” linear economy—to move away from single-use packaging into durable, multiuse containers. Ultimately, the idea is to spark a wider movement to a circular economy, an economic model based on getting us much use out of the products and resources that are already in circulation, and thereby reducing both consumption and waste. The image of the milkman is a perfect embodiment of the circular economy. “One of the things that we found with the milkman model was that the milk bottle was an asset that was owned by the milk company,” Rossi explained. This made it desirable for the milk company to invest more in its milk bottles, to ensure that they would be long-lasting and durable. Tony Rossi of Loop

From laundry detergent to ice cream

Häagen-Dazs container Much more than milk, you can buy a grocery list of goods from Loop: tea, laundry detergent, shampoo, even ice cream, all in reusable containers. Loop is working with some of the world’s biggest brands to test this back-to-the-future idea of selling products in reusable containers. The list Rossi gave of some of Loop’s early partners was impressive: Procter and Gamble, Unilever, Nestle, Clorox, Mars, and Danone, to name a few. The containers Loop uses to ship these products aren’t your run-of-the-mill Ziplocs or Tupperware containers. Just as the milkman model would suggest, there is significant investment in high-quality, durably designed containers for Loop’s products. “For me one of the most innovative and kind of jaw-dropping products so far has been the Häagen-Dazs ice cream container,” says Rossi. “It’s double-walled.” Loop’s Häagen-Dazs container is not only designed to have the longest lifespan possible—it is also designed to keep your ice cream deliciously frozen, all the way from the Loop warehouse to your door. But Loop’s containers aren’t just utilitarian; they are also beautifully designed. “There is a counter- or shelf-worthiness to the package, where you as a consumer are proud to put that on your counter,” said Rossi. Loop is trying to make sustainability “irresistible.” Loop how it works

How it works

Loop has no storefront. Instead, customers visit loopstore.com and place an online order, which Loop ships to their door via courier. When they are done with their products, customers can schedule a Loop courier to come pick up the empty containers. Loop has even designed a reusable shipping tote to be used for both delivery and pick-up, thus avoiding the Styrofoam and bubble wrap waste nightmare of most online purchases. Loop works on a deposit system, in which customers pay a deposit on the packaging of the products they order. You would, for instance, be required to pay a five-dollar deposit on your Häagen-Dazs ice cream container on top of the cost of the ice cream itself. Once you return the empty container, however, you would be reimbursed for the amount of the deposit.

Coming soon!

Before you get too excited, note that Loop is currently in its pilot phase, with test markets operating in the eastern United States and in Paris, France. Each test market has 5,000 participating households, but demand is high. There are currently waiting lists in these markets, with people itching to give Loop a try. With so much demand, Loop is working on launching the platform directly through retailers, as well as expanding the platform globally. Loop plans to launch new markets in the western United States, Germany, Japan, and Australia next year. Canada can expect to see Loop in the Greater Toronto Area in fall 2020. Loop featured products

A sampling of Loop products in reusable containers.

Better for the environment?

While Loop’s circular economy model does a tremendous job of reducing packaging waste, the shipping and the materials used to make their new, durable containers must still be taken into account. According to Rossi, Loop has done multiple life cycle analyses of the impact of its reuse model as compared to that of single-use models. These analyses take into account eight different environmental factors, including carbon emissions, water usage, and impact on air and water quality—and reuse consistently comes out on top. “On average, it takes about three reuses of that durable package to have the same environmental footprint as three single-use packages,” Rossi explained. If a package is used between three and seven times, it performs 51 per cent better than single-use packaging in terms of environmental impact. If used more than seven times, this improvement increases to 70 per cent.

Waste not! Change is coming

Waste and other environmental issues are all over the news and social media these days, whether it be microplastics, plastic bags, or Greta Thunberg’s climate strikes. For Rossi, this increase in public attention and awareness of the environmental impact of our current lifestyles can mean only one thing: change is coming. “People aren’t content with the way that things are today. And everybody acknowledges the fact that we need to change. And I think that’s a powerful message. And that is forcing the hands of anybody who makes products, or is in business, to think about their environmental footprint.” Indeed, change is desperately needed. As Rossi said, “We realistically can’t fast forward 30 years into the future and continue to behave the way we’re behaving today.” He hopes Loop can play a role in spreading the gospel of the waste-not circular economy. Loop is a company owned and operated by TerraCycle, a social enterprise based in the United States that specializes in collecting and repurposing hard-to-recycle waste and operates in 20 countries. We interviewed Rossi after he presented on Loop at the Recycling Council of Alberta Sea Change conference held in Jasper, Alberta, October 2–4, 2019.