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No-Waste Shopping Service 'Loop' Comes To Rhode Island

TerraCycle Include USA UPS Loop Clorox Häagen-Dazs Cascade

Bristol resident Parker Kotuby is one of the first Rhode Islanders to use the service.

A zero-waste shopping service is now available to Rhode Island residents. (Loop) BRISTOL, RI — Next time you go shopping, pay attention to the amount of plastic packaging in your bags. Produce wrappers, bags of powdered sugar, bottles of soda, even the bags themselves — all plastic. Loop, a fledgling company that recently began serving Rhode Island residents, is on a mission to change that. "There was never another option available to me before Loop," said Parker Kotuby, a 29-year-old Bristol resident and flagship Rhode Island Loop user. "So much junk is thrown away." Loop takes a new approach to shopping, delivering totes full of household goods, food and other supplies to user's doors, all in reusable packing. Well-known brands from Cascade to Clorox to Häagen-Dazs are packaged in durable materials like stainless steel that users return once the product has been used up. Here's how it works: users pick out their desired products and are charged for the products themselves as well as a refundable deposit to encourage returning the packaging. Once users send the empty containers back, the deposit is returned to them. "[The price] can seem crazy on the face of it," Kotuby said. "It's definitely not bargain pricing ... but I'm willing to pay a slightly higher price to feel like I'm making a difference." Several days later, a large, study black tote emblazoned with the Loop logo arrives via UPS. Virtually everything in that tote from the containers themselves to the little plastic lock that keeps the zippers closed in transit can be placed back inside the bag for reuse or recycling. Even the Clorox wipes, usually a one-and-done item, are sent with a canvas bag for collection to be sent back to Loop headquarters. "So far, the only things I've been able to find that are disposable are the thin plastic sealants that keep the lids on the stainless-steel cans of snacks during transit," Kotuby said. "It's pretty impressive." So far, Kotuby said he hasn't seen a major decrease in the amount of trash he and his wife produce in a week, which he said is likely due to the unavailability of certain items and that he is still a new user of the service. Over time, he believes services like Loop will help keep plastic out of landfills and oceans. The biggest drawback, he said, is most likely the price. Initial costs can be high, though over time he believes it will be most cost-effective. For those who are unsure if Loop would work for them, he encourages taking the leap. "It's very low-risk to try. If you don't like it, you can get your deposit back and just not place any more orders," Kotuby said. "It's worth it to give it a shot. It's easier than going to the grocery store!"

Rethinking Food Packaging May Address the Plastic Crisis

TerraCycle pepsico Nestle Unilever Include USA Mondelez International Procter & Gamble Loop

As society comes to terms with its plastics problem, companies and individuals are finding alternative ways to package their food.

Looking at the contents of the average grocery cart, it is no surprise that the World Economic Forum warns that there will be more plastic than fish by weight in oceans by 2050. From coffee bags to cheese wrappers—food and beverage packaging is a major contributor to plastic pollution. Scientists warn that the proliferation of plastics in the environment is creating a variety of health and ecological problems. Some companies are starting to recognize the need to act. Nestlé estimates that it produced about 1.5 million tons of plastic in 2018. In April 2018, Nestlé committed to make 100 percent of their packaging reusable or recyclable by 2025. Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider said in the announcement, “Plastic waste is one of the biggest sustainability issues the world is facing today. Tackling it requires a collective approach. We are committed to finding improved solutions to reduce, re-use, and recycle.” From 2020–2025, Nestlé will phase-out all plastics that are not recyclable or are hard to recycle. And Nestlé will significantly raise the percentage of recycled plastics used in its water bottle lines by 2025. Starting in 2019, the company will begin to eliminate all plastic straws in their products. The newly created Nestlé Institute of Packaging Sciences will lead the development and evaluation of new sustainable packaging. Nestlé also joined Loop, a subscription home delivery service for foods and household goods with reusable packaging. Spearheaded by TerraCycle, the project will deliver items to the consumer’s front door in customized, durable packaging that is then collected, cleaned, refilled, and re-used. Nestlé will participate in the project through its brand Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream in New York City, thereby joining other consumer goods producers like Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, and Mondelēz International. Mondelēz International joins the platform with its Milka brand of biscuits, cakes, and sweet snacks as part of its commitment to making all packaging recyclable by 2025. The commitment also includes eliminating 65 million kilograms of packaging material worldwide and sustainably sourcing all paper-based packaging by 2020. Acknowledging the role consumers play in a complete recycling system, Mondelēz also aims to provide better recycling information to consumers by 2025 with clear instructions for their packaging. “Plastic waste and its impact on the planet is a broad, systemic issue that our consumers care deeply about, and which requires a holistic response. Together with partners from across the industry, as well as public and private entities, we can help to develop practical solutions that result in a positive environmental impact,” says Rob Hargrove, Executive Vice President, Research, Development, Quality, and Innovation at Mondelēz. Unilever—the owner of brands such as Ben & Jerry’s, Lipton, and Dove—purchases over 2 million tons of plastic a year. The company committed to meeting various packaging goals by 2025: making all their packaging recyclable, compostable, or reusable; using 25 percent recycled plastic in their plastic packing, and halving the waste associated with the disposal of their products. Unilever plans to achieve their goals by developing new processes and technologies such as CreaSolv, which recycles high-value polymers from used tea sachets to make recyclable plastic packaging. The commitments from these companies come amid growing public outcry over the proliferation of plastics in the environment. After an exposition finding plastics from Nestlé, Unilever, and Colgate in a popular diving spot in the Coral Triangle, Abigail Aguilar, campaigner for Greenpeace Philippines, says, “If big companies such as Nestlé and Unilever don’t respond to our calls for reduction in single-use plastic production, these places of ‘paradise’ like Verde Island Passage, will be lost.” A 2018 report from the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives found Nestlé and Unilever were the brands most responsible for plastic pollution in the Philippines. Several public laws are taking steps to reduce plastic waste. Most notably, in October of 2018, the European Parliament voted for a ban of 10 different single-use plastics by 2020. By 2025, the proposition mandates a 25 percent reduction of plastics for which there is no current practical alternative and that 90 percent of beverage bottles will be recycled. One option companies have for reducing plastic moving forward is plant-based biodegradable packaging. NatureWorks uses corn to produce a biodegradable industrial resin or polymer in the form of polylactic acid (PLA). The polymer, called Ingeo, can be used to make products such as compostable coffee capsules and yogurt cups. However, waste administers and experts have found that products made with Ingeo are often not fully compostable or recyclable. It is important to note that biodegradable materials will not break down in landfills. An increase in the use of biodegradable packaging must be accompanied by more composting infrastructure. Another company, TIPA, has created a new packaging technology that is fully biodegradable in both industrial and home composting. They promote their technology as an alternative to conventional flexible packaging, such as candy bar wrappers and coffee bean bags. Flexible packaging is generally not recyclable. TIPA asserts their packaging is as good as conventional flexible packaging in terms of shelf life, durability, sealing strength, printability, and flexibility. Some smaller food and beverage companies have already paved the way for sustainable packaging. For example, Alter Eco’s quinoa packaging is compostable and made by Gone4Good. B.O.S.S. Food’s snack bars use compostable wrappers made by TIPA. It may be possible to avoid packaging altogether. Zero-waste stores popping up in places from Brooklyn to Malaysia allow customers to take home bulk products in reusable containers. While fruits and vegetables often come in bulk, many companies also package these foods to extend shelf life. Apeel Sciences has found another solution. Their product is a thin edible and tasteless coating made from plant material that can be applied to fruits and veggies to significantly improve shelf-life. Founder and CEO James Rogers says, “our [mission] at its core is looking at natural ecosystems to determine and identify what materials it’s using to solve problems and how we might be able to extract and isolate those materials to solve other problems for humanity.” People are also reducing their use of food packaging at home. Homemade or purchased bees wrap wax is a sustainable alternative to plastic wraps and plastic snack or sandwich bags. Not only is beeswax reusable, but it is also compostable, and it requires a lot less energy and greenhouse gasses to produce than aluminum foil. The homemade wraps are made from nothing but beeswax and cotton. Pre-made beeswax wraps are available for purchase from companies like Bee’s Wrap, who also uses tree resin and jojoba oil, a natural antibacterial.

In the loop

TerraCycle tom szaky Nestle Unilever Include Canada (English) Procter & Gamble Carrefour Walgreens Loop Häagen-Dazs Kroger Loblaw Soapply Melanin Essentials

Businesses are faced with significant challenges every day. Among the most demanding are working towards a supply chain that is sustainable, yet profitable. It’s no longer about minimally meeting environmental regulations but creating value for consumers and stakeholders. The focus is toward more innovative, opportunity-focused thinking that considers impacts on the planet and society (is it positive, neutral or simply “less bad”?) and prepares organizations for resilience and growth in an uncertain future. For consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies, thinking critically about the function of packaging and the ways they can change the paradigm around production and consumption is one aspect of designing a supply chain that can take us out of the linear and into a regenerative circular economy. As the system currently operates, industry produces on a one-way track to landfilling and incineration. Raw material is sourced from the earth to produce commodities sold, used and disposed, and the value of the material is lost—either buried or burned. Facilities waste and other pre-consumer materials meet the same fate. From linear to circular This make-use-dispose pipeline is known as the linear economy because products and packaging, once manufactured and used, too often go in one direction: the garbage. Conversely, the concept of a circular economy keeps resources in the supply chain at high value by recovering, reusing and repurposing whenever possible. Within this context, supply chain doesn’t just refer to the materials and processes involved in the back-end of making and distributing something, but the full lifecycle of an item, including when it leaves the production line. The consumer goods supply chain is currently quite wasteful end-to-end; focusing on packaging reveals significant opportunities for improvement. Many “green” packaging trends aim to solve for waste with the end-user, the link where the value of material is visibly lost. For example, biodegradable bioplastics made of renewable feedstocks instead of petroleum are supposed to break down in the environment as plastic litter does not. This demonstrates a change in raw material sourcing and an attempt to prevent litter with a material that will decompose. However, most compostable bioplastics need an industrial composting facility to break down. There are only a handful of those globally, and many don’t want this in their piles. What’s more, the resources needed to produce bioplastic are agricultural space, water and material the world is nowhere near able to sustain at scale. Another example of manufacturers aiming to tackle waste on both ends of the supply chain is the practice of lightweighting packaging by either replacing materials with a lighter weight alternative (glass with plastic) or using less material. The idea is less waste at the front and back end, but often results in a product or package rendered non-recyclable through conventional channels. What neither of these methods do is value resources such that they are kept cycling within the supply chain and in use for as long as possible, extracting their maximum value and recovering them for reintegration. Each practice assumes the resources that go into producing packaging, and the resulting post-consumer waste, is disposable and still treats the material as single-use. We did a lot of reflection and realized that the foundational cause of garbage is disposability. For a packaging designer, an effective approach when considering materials is to make packaging out of material that recyclers want and have the technology to handle. It’s about the entire supply chain and the potential for a recycling company to make a profit. But a circular economy is one that focuses on durability and use of renewable resources, including energy inputs. Recycling, while important, is energy and resource intensive, which is why so many items are not considered cost-effective to recycle. The need for profit Packaging design for profitability is certainly complex enough without considering the full life cycle of materials. Manufacturers and brands that commit to sustainability in a practical, scalable way stand out in an industry that still profits from the status quo, but it must be profitable in order for it to stick in the short-term. Rethinking all aspects of the supply chain, from sourcing to end-of-life, is the key. Above all resources, true change requires boldness. TerraCycle’s new circular shopping platform Loop works with brands to create durable versions of goods previously housed in single-use packaging. The products are offered in a combination of glass, stainless steel, aluminum and engineered plastics designed to last at least 100 uses; when they do wear out, TerraCycle is able to recycle them, cycling the value of the material. Offering trusted brands in upgraded containers, consumers enjoy products they love while eliminating packaging waste—a “win-win” for profitable, sustainable supply chains. Conveniently delivered to one’s doorstep, the Loop Tote doesn’t use bubble wrap, air packs, plastic foam, or cardboard boxes, also scrapping excess e-commerce packaging material. With Loop, brands are taking the bold step of owning their package at every link on the supply chain and putting their packages back on the line. While the goal of the platform is to eventually eliminate single-use packaging from the waste stream altogether, manufacturers have the opportunity to offer their refillable products as an additional SKU in their product lines, which has virtues for large and small brands alike. While large companies have the resources and funding to take on a lighthouse project like this, smaller businesses have the flexibility to design for sustainability in the now. Corporations such as Procter & Gamble and Unilever can make a huge impact here, while young companies like Soapply and Melanin Essentials set the standard for making sustainability a part of their DNA. As an integral aspect of the supply chain, retailer partnerships bring the packaging into stores, making it accessible for consumers. In the United States, our founding partners are Walgreens and Kroger, Europe has Carrefour, and Canada’s largest food and pharmacy retailer Loblaw Companies Limited recently announced it would launch the platform in the country early-2020. Developing close collaborations of this kind creates a strong position for all players to offer higher-value products with less waste on the back-end. Reconciling innovation and growth with sustainability is by no means an easy task, and dialogue with all stakeholders yield more-complete information and options to consider. An important thing to remember is that supply chains are about people, not just processes. What’s interesting is the higher up the waste hierarchy you move (from litter to landfill, waste to energy, to recycling, upcycling and reuse) the more jobs you create in the process. In terms of injecting value in moving from the linear to the circular economy, this is a positive most of us can agree on. In the end, sustainability comes down to taking responsibility. What companies tend to be good at is being efficient in their operations. Focus less on the physical factory as the point of the environmental issue and realize everything put out on the market will become garbage unless you take responsibility for it. Everything leaving the factory currently becomes waste.

Tom Szaky is the founder and CEO of TerraCycle Design products that have value, instead of harm. The circular economy at its ideal is intended to be regenerative. Shouldn’t we aspire that our products actually create a benefit? Even If we get to 100 per cent recycling, 100 per cent recycled content and zero packaging waste from reusable packaging, we’ve only hit net neutral. What is net positive? We need to start thinking about that versus just going about how are we going to eliminate our negative.

Lixo Zero: seu delivery se preocupa com a redução de descartáveis?

TerraCycle Include Brazil Loop

Isopor para o hambúrguer, pote plástico para o açaí, um canudo para o refrigerante, talheres de plástico e uma sacola para a entrega. E, claro, não pode esquecer dos 20 sachês de mostarda e ketchup. Assim é formada a cadeia dos serviços de delivery (entrega, em tradução livre) — com excesso no uso de plástico que, posteriormente, será descartado de forma irregular. Justamente pensando em mudar esse e outros hábitos, que pessoas aderem ao conceito do Lixo Zero (ou Zero Trash, em inglês).

The Hidden Plastic That’s Clogging Our Oceans

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This spring I was on a cruise off Bermuda, some 650-plus miles off the mainland United States. The sea was azure—the color of the sky on a clear blue day. The water was crystal clear other than a few golden strands of sargassum seaweed. I was on the boat with an intrepid group of major plastic producers and users (Dow Chemical, Clorox, Nestlé Waters, Coca-Cola), nonprofit organizations (Greenpeace, WWF), social entrepreneurs, investors, funders and academics like me. We were gathered by SoulBuffalo, our host, to experience the ocean plastics challenge firsthand and to use our time confined together at sea to determine what we might do about it. And there was horror lurking beneath. What we encountered, though, weren’t massive shakes or mysterious monsters of the deep. We all took our turn snorkeling and had a macabre competition to see how many pieces of plastic we could find stuck in the sargassum. I think the toilet seat won. Yet the truly devastating experience was this: Remember those crystal-clear waters 650 miles out in the middle of nowhere? We all took turns in a zodiac pulling a small filter behind us for 30 minutes. Each filter came back with 10 plus microplastic bits pulled from the top layer of those beautiful waters. These plastic fragments had not been visible to the naked eye. Photo courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Every day we are drowning ourselves and unique habitats in plastic waste. Scientists estimate that in coastal countries some 275 million metric tons of waste were generated in 2010, with between 4.8 and 12.7 million metric tons (the equivalent of 8.5 million Toyota Priuses) ending up in the ocean. Marine life is eating the plastic. I saw a piece of plastic with fish and turtle bites on it. Whales, seabirds, fish and other sea mammals have been found with intestines full of plastic. So, what to do? Focus first on getting rid of single use plastics. Already the EU, Canada, China and India, among other countries, and some U.S. states and municipalities have announced various single use plastic bans, and more will come. And we can do our part as consumers. You know you are supposed to bring that silly canvas bag with you to the grocery store—so do it! Build your personal brand with your choice of water bottle so you don’t have to buy plastic. (I have a Swell bottle that looks like wood. Says it all.) You can carry your own collapsible straw, if sipping things is an important part of your daily routine. There is also fun new stuff to try. Feel nostalgic for the milkman and his glass bottles? Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Clorox, Nestlé, Mars, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are working with Terracycle through a new service called Loop, which delivers your shampoo, ice cream and other food and personal care items in durable and attractive packaging that they take away when empty, clean, refill and deliver to your doorstep. A similar idea is Truman’s Cleaning Supplies. They not only reduce your jumble of noxious cleaners to four non-toxic options but will deliver refills that you mix with water in the original bottle. Bye-bye to lots of plastic bottles with leftover nasty chemicals in them. Once you start thinking about it and creating a low plastics tolerance discipline, I am sure you will find many ways to cut down on single use plastics. The motley crew aboard the Bermuda plastics cruise may still find ways to make it easier for you. My favorite idea from the onboard brainstorming was Zero Hero, wherein brands will band together with retailers to create products with zero packaging waste or 100 percent recycling or reuse and refill in-store, enabling consumers to choose to be “zero heroes.” The ocean could use some Avengers. Personally, I am rooting for Aquaman to step up.

Change the World 2019: Where Business Creates Virtuous Circles

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You might not expect modern corporations to tackle an urgent problem of the 21st century by looking back to the 1950s. But that’s what one group of companies is doing with a new service called Loop, whose backers refer to its approach as “the milkman model.” As that Leave It to Beaver–era nickname implies, Loop delivers supermarket and drugstore staples—including toothpaste, detergent, mayonnaise, and ice cream—to consumers’ homes in durable, reusable containers. It’s a “zero waste” initiative, an effort to alleviate the planet’s plastic-pollution crisis. Several consumer-goods giants are Loop partners, including Unilever and Nestlé (which are packaging their brands in Loop’s bottles and tubes) and retailers Kroger and Walgreens. The company that conceived Loop, however, and will distribute, clean, and refill all those containers, is tiny TerraCycle, a 302-employee startup in Trenton, N.J., whose CEO, Tom Szaky, founded the business 18 years ago in his Princeton dorm room. TerraCycle holds the No. 10 spot on Fortune’s fifth annual Change the World list. The list honors companies that recognize public health, environmental, economic, and social problems as major challenges—but also as opportunities to initiate a so-called virtuous circle. They understand that doing good for society and the planet can help them bring in more revenue, which can help them do more good, in a self-reinforcing loop. The TerraCycle project embodies another kind of virtuous circle: As the threats posed by pollution become increasingly urgent, more companies are embracing the idea of a “circular economy,” one in which products last longer and are close to 100% recyclable. That idea animates Daisy, Apple’s iPhone-repurposing robot (No. 16); the reusable “smart grid” circuitry manufactured by French giant Schneider Electric (No. 9); and many other innovations featured here. Expanding opportunities for your own employees can create another positive loop. That ideal guides $514 billion retailer Walmart (No. 5), which is paying for higher education for thousands of its employees, and $398 million restaurant chain MOD Pizza (No. 28), which has built its workforce around formerly incarcerated people and others who struggle to get hired elsewhere. We selected the 2019 list in collaboration with our expert partners at Shared Value Initiative, a consultancy that helps companies apply business skills to social problems. As MOD shows, small companies are just as capable as multinationals of fitting that bill. This year’s smaller candidates were particularly potent. Our 52 honorees include at least nine companies with less than $1 billion in annual revenue. “Small” doesn’t mean “money-losing,” however. These companies here have built their do-gooder ideas into real business models, and are either turning a profit with their help or have credible plans for doing so. (Please see more about our methodology here.) The Change the World list doesn’t score companies on their charitable generosity, nor does it rate them on some cosmic scale of good and bad. It celebrates the nexus where daring ideas overlap with the desire to make the world better. Loop, which has signed up 80,000 customers in the U.S. and Europe since its launch in May, sits in that sweet spot. It’s not going to make the Great Pacific Garbage Patch disappear. But be patient: Many world-changing ideas start small.

5 Ways To Make Your Next Move Way Less Painful (For You & The Planet)Emma Loewe

coca cola Unilever Include USA Procter & Gamble Loop

Do the words "moving apartments" immediately spike your heart rate? I'm with you. In the weeks leading up to my recent move, my palms were sweaty and my brain ran amok with logistics. U-Hauls and moving boxes played a prominent role in my nightmares more than once. As if the typical concerns about packing, parking, and paying for my new place weren't enough, this time I'd assigned myself the added challenge of keeping the move as low-waste as possible. During the packing and unpacking process, I wanted to avoid the trash can and recycling bins (the recycling industry is in crisis right now, after all) and make sure that everything I gave away was actually going to be reused. This way of thinking definitely added time to my moving process. It did take some extra energy to find homes for all my different buckets of stuff. (And I realize that not everyone has the luxury of making a slow, methodical move like I did.) But doing things this way saved me some of the eco-guilt of throwing away perfectly good items like I had done in moves past. Here are some of the resources that I found most helpful throughout the process. May they save you at least one moving-box-related nightmare. For clothing, look to resell first and recycle what's left. My closet was the first thing I tackled, and I did a serious wardrobe edit about a month before move-out. As I did, the words of fashion industry waste expert Elizabeth L. Cline rang through my head. When I spoke with Cline for a story on what actually happens to clothes after they're donated, she told me, "On average, most resale stores and thrift shops only sell 20 to 25% of the donations they receive, and the rest is sent onward to exporters or recyclers." She added that around 1.7 billion garments are exported out of the United States every year. The problem is that many of us are guilty of donating things that are tattered, stained, and outdated to the point that nobody else would ever want to buy them. Instead of lugging my piles of clothes to my local Goodwill and hoping for the best, I picked out the pieces that I thought could still be worth something and mailed them to ThredUp—an online consignment shop that pays you for the items it sells and then recycles the rest. The process was really easy: I printed a prepaid label from their website and sent in my clothes (after washing them and making sure they were in tiptop shape). A few weeks later, I got an email recapping what items the company decided to sell and how much I would make off of them ($12.47 richer, baby!). After that, I was left with stuff that I didn't think could reasonably be resold, which I took to a GrowNYC drop-off location for recycling. Now, they probably exist as insulation or carpet padding or industrial rags somewhere. It's not the best-case scenario, but hopefully by my next move, it will be more common to see old garments be repurposed into new ones. Give away your small appliances and household staples. Freecycle was a godsend during my move. The online platform is similar to Craigslist, except everything is free. I posted things like mirrors, clocks, small furniture, hot water heaters, and fans. Everything was scooped up within a few days of posting, and it was easy to coordinate pick-ups via email and text. It was a win-win: I got rid of my stuff and gave it to someone who was genuinely excited to use it. Granted, I live in a central area of New York City, so it might be harder to find takers if you live in more remote locations, but I encourage anyone to try the service. I'm keeping an eye on the site for the next time I'm tempted to order something online because you can find some real gems. I've also heard good things about Buy Nothing groups on Facebook, which serve a similar purpose. If you're hoping to make money off of higher worth electronics, Best Buy also has a take-back program for those. Oh! And I tried to use up most of my food before the move, but if you have any perishable ingredients on your hands, the OLIO App can connect you with nearby people who will gladly use them in their own kitchens.

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Swap what's left with friends. As Lindsay Miles writes in her new book Less Stuff, an overview on how to declutter responsibly, you shouldn't recycle anything until you've made sure no one else wants it! As a wellness editor, I'm sent a lot of beauty products, supplements, and superfoods to try—some of which I never actually use and just collect dust in my cabinets. But they're perfectly good! I asked around to see if my roommate, co-workers, friends, and family wanted anything and was able to find a home for most of it. I also attended a "swag swap" organized by Good Stuff, a circular economy pop-up, and started to think about how fun it would be to organize something similar with friends. Next time! Rent reusable packing boxes. Cardboard moving boxes are deceptively bulky, expensive, and annoying to get rid of. Instead, I used NYC-based reusable moving box company Gorilla Bins at the recommendation of a friend. The company delivered reusable boxes to my old apartment and picked them up from my new one a week later (another benefit of a service like this: It forces you to unpack quickly!) to be cleaned and reused. The boxes were well-sized, waterproof, and much sturdier than cardboard. Though Gorilla Bins is an NYC-based company, U-Hauloffers a similar service nationwide. Remember that the zero-waste mentality shouldn't stop when you move in. Now that I'm settling into my new place, I'm trying to keep up the momentum by purchasing things that I won't need to just get rid of again during my next move. Instead of going with cheap furniture that's low in quality, I'm saving up to buy more expensive pieces that I know will last. I'm also on the lookout for secondhand pieces—AptDeco is a highly trafficked site in my browser right now—and am considering renting anything I can't see myself hanging onto in the long run. For household items that usually come wrapped in disposable packaging (think shampoo, conditioner, razors, cleaning wipes, etc.) I've been using Loop—a new program that delivers products from companies like Unilever, Procter & Gamble Company, Coca-Cola, and Haagen-Dazs in reusable packaging that will be collected and reused when you're done with them. I was lucky enough to receive a trial Loop box to try out and I love it so much I've already signed up to become a regular customer. I'm far from perfect, but my visits to my apartment building's trash room are definitely getting a little less frequent, and that's a win in my book.

TerraCycle’s Szaky Creates Opportunities from Challenges

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The 2019 Waste360 40 Under 40 award recipient discusses how he got his start in the industry as well as TerraCycle’s mission to eliminate waste. When Tom Szaky was a freshman at Princeton University, he and several friends during a fall break ended up feeding kitchen scraps to red worms and using the resulting fertilizer to feed some of their indoor plants. The results amazed Szaky and the idea for TerraCycle was born: to help eliminate the idea of waste by making quality fertilizer from food waste. Szaky emptied his savings accounts, borrowed money from friends and family and maxed out his credit cards to create a massive worm feces conversion unit. He eventually decided to leave Princeton and pursue TerraCycle fulltime. The company has since evolved, and earlier this year, TerraCycle created Loop, a first-of-its-kind circular shopping system, in partnership with major retailers and brands. It aims to change the world’s reliance on single-use packaging, offer a convenient and enhanced circular solution to consumers and secure meaningful environmental benefits. The system, which also launched in Paris and will continue to roll out to more markets throughout 2019 and 2020, allows customers to responsibly consume a range of products in customized, brand-specific, durable packaging that is collected, cleaned, refilled and reused. The content, if recoverable, is either recycled or reused. Szaky has been named a 2019 Waste360 40 Under 40 award recipient. He was nominated by Kimberly Frost, who never met him but has been interested in and following Terracycle’s growth through the years. “He's a self-made guy,” says Frost. “He invested in his passion and grew from there. He stayed local. He invested in his community. He took his solutions global. He is someone who harnesses challenges and morphs them into opportunities. His solutions benefit the environment and show the human capacity for creative problem-solving.” We recently sat down with the 40 Under 40 awardrecipient to discuss how he got his start in the industry as well as TerraCycle’s idea to eliminate waste. Waste360: How did you get your start in the industry? Tom Szaky: I started my company in the middle of my freshman year of college, and I left college in my sophomore year to pursue it, so I sort of fell into the industry. I think waste is an amazingly big topic and relative to its immense scale; it’s incredibly un-innovative. So, that to me was a way to create a business that focused on purpose, as in making the environment better and, in a secondary way, making society better while making a profit. And that was very attractive to me. Waste360: Please tell us about your brief time at Princeton. Tom Szaky: When I was in college, I was very interested in behavioral economics—that was my major. I think the big turning point for me in economics overall and sort of thinking about business in different ways was actually the first class of economics. The professor got up on stage and the first thing she said was, ‘Let’s define the purpose of business.’ And the answer she was looking for was profit to shareholders. I sort of had a problem with that in the sense that I thought there are so many people who interact with a business—employees, vendors, customers, etc.—and so few do it for profit to shareholders and don’t think it’s the reason for its existence. So, I sort of started exploring that conflict a little bit and where I landed was at, ‘No, the purpose of business is for society and the planet and it should do so at a profit, but profit isn’t the reason of being.’ So, that’s where I picked up this whole exploration. Waste360: What was your initial inspiration for starting TerraCycle and eventually the Loop shopping system? Tom Szaky: TerraCycle, for me, was inspired around garbage and around how people don’t like garbage and pay to discard it. That's a big issue, and although everything one day becomes waste, the innovation is relatively small. That, to me, was a really interesting opportunity, and that’s how TerraCycle began—starting with the organic fertilizer and then emerging to recycling programs and other exciting things. Fast forward to a few years ago in 2016 or 2017, we were thinking, ‘Is recycling really the foundational solution to waste?’ And we realized that it is a solution for the symptom of waste but not the root cause of waste. That began a big exploration that landed us launching Loop, which was announced in January and went live in May. Waste360: How are things going with Loop since the pilot program has expanded into new areas? What kind of feedback have you received from that project so far? Tom Szaky: Loop went live on May 14 in France and on May 21 with Kroger and Walgreens in the U.S. The launch is coming up in London in January 2020 with Tesco, in April 2020 in Germany and Canada and then in late 2020 with Australia and Japan. So, there’s a lot coming up.

In the platforms that are live today in the U.S. and France, we are finding that people really like Loop for two reasons: for the reuse and the design that it brings to the products in their home. And that was really interesting to see how much people gravitated to Loop because of the design. We are also seeing people are less sensitive on the price end of the project. People want to make sure the product itself is a reasonable price, but they’re open to paying a deposit equal to the value of the package, which is really quite exciting. Waste360: How is TerraCycle eliminating the idea of waste? Tom Szaky: We are doing that in four ways. One is that we help make things that are not recyclable recyclable. That is one of our major business units—we recycle everything from dirty diapers to cigarette butts and flexible food packaging to toothbrushes. Our second division focuses on how do we integrate waste back into consumer products? For example, ocean plastic into shampoo bottles and many other such examples. But again, always with major brands. The third is Loop—moving from disposable to durable consumption. We also have an emerging division around diagnostics, which looks at certain waste streams that carry diagnosable samples, like the saliva on your toothbrush or the fecal matter in your child’s diaper, and are creating a solution to that. For example, many toothbrushes have saliva samples, razor blades have skin samples, tampons have menstrual blood and kitty litter can contain cat urine and fecal matter from the pet. In all those cases, we can create an opportunity—which we are developing now—where you buy a diagnostic kit and put in one of the samples from those waste streams and then when it comes back to us, we analyze it to tell you about the health of yourself, your child, your pet or whatever it may be. Waste360: Terracycle has partnered with organizations like Keep America Beautiful, Subaru and Tweed, among others. What other notable partnerships are in the works for the company? Tom Szaky: Oh wow, yeah. We work with so many amazing brands and retailers across 21 markets. It’s hard for me to tell you about what is coming up because those will be formally announced as they come.

Waste360: You’ve authored four books, starred in a TerraCycle reality show and have received more than 200 social, environmental and business awards. What’s next for you personally and for TerraCycle? Tom Szaky: Personally, I am going to write another book. It will be the fifth book, most likely on marketing and communications. I am really enjoying my family now. I have two young boys—a 4 year old and 2 year old—so I am spending a lot of time with them. For the company, we are becoming more mature. We acquired a light bulb recycling company last year, and we are looking to start another acquisition this year and finish it next year. We are also looking toward expanding into more countries. I think that is very likely with our foundation that we’ve opened in Thailand and our for-profit we will be opening in Southeast Asian region countries, like Indonesia and Malaysia. We are looking at developing other business units, like how do we bring this idea of really high-end waste management and recycling to residential homes and small businesses? We are really trying to think through how to increase the geography but really increase the range of all the capabilities that we can bring. Waste360: What advice would you give people who are either reluctant to join the waste and recycling industry or those just getting their feet wet in the industry? Tom Szaky: I would say it’s an incredible opportunity right now and people are really focused on [waste and recycling]. We are in the middle of a garbage crisis. But because people are repulsed by waste, there is little innovation, so there is a great opportunity for an entrepreneur to get involved because it is very easy to innovate when there is very little innovation going on. Waste360: What keeps you motivated in your daily work? Tom Szaky: It’s the purpose. It’s the ability to know that what I am doing is not just to make money, it’s going to leave the world better than I found it. And that purpose really drives me. It’s nice and it’s a cherry on the cake that it is also financially rewarding, but what gets me out of bed is working to make the world better than I found it, and it’s a constant driver no matter what.

Zero Waste Packaging: Real Sustainability at Last

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Our single-use disposable packaging world is about to change. And this time the change is being fueled by consumer demand. Witness the backlash against plastics with the ubiquitous refillable metal water bottle in everyone’s hands, the ban of single-use plastic bags in New York, California (and elsewhere), and the focus on how our oceans are overflowing — not with fish, but with tons of plastic. Efforts to recycle are also proving too difficult and costly to be effective and don’t address the root cause of the issue. But, aside from single-use packaging being bad for the environment, it simply can’t deliver on truly great and entirely new brand experiences unconstrained by the cost of goods (i.e. fretting over fractions of pennies in material costs). With consumer acceptance growing, we can now view packaging as durable rather than disposable, and offer solutions that are truly sustainable while delivering usage experiences never before possible. One example is Loop, the zero-waste platform announced at the World Economic Forum, formed by a coalition of major consumer product manufacturers including Procter & Gamble, Nestle, PepsiCo, Unilever, etc. With pilot programs rolling out in New York this past May, the circular shopping platform features products in durable packages that are delivered, consumed, and then returned back to the manufacturer to be cleaned and refilled, and sent out again. This major shift in ownership of the package from the consumer to the brand is a ticket to unfettered imagination in consumer experience and sustainability. The package essentially becomes an asset and can be viewed and designed as a device. This opens the door to a myriad of opportunities and innovation, unlocking technology that can change the experience of the user in ways never before possible. Brands can rethink what their package does and how the consumer uses it, such as a pill package that reminds you when to take or reorder pills, detect when a food has expired (say goodbye to the smell test), automatically order more product when its running low, or self-seal to insure freshness. While initial package costs are more, with each reuse, the cost splits in half and, importantly, the consumer is not throwing it away. TerraCycle, the parent company of Loop, calculated the total impact of the packaging and found that it’s between 50-75% better for the environment than conventional alternatives. Jasmin Druffner, (durable packaging developer, Loop Global), acknowledges, “Loop is a groundbreaking platform that goes against the grain. But, it gives brands an opportunity to rethink how consumers view them through their packaging.” (See sidebar). Whereas it used to be convenience and ease of use that dominated the landscape, today consumers are more than happy to bring their own reusable bags to shop while demanding that Starbucks get rid of single-use plastic straws. Here are three ways that brands and packaging teams can approach this successfully:

Inspire your team with the possibilities. This is the chance to help them imagine an entirely new consumer experience is possible. What can be done for consumers to change their experience with the brand and differentiate it from the competition? For the Loop initiative, Häagen-Dazs has developed a refillable stainless steel ice cream tub that delivers a better experience by keeping the product colder longer. According to Tommy See Tho, packaging and design manager at Nestlé, “The feature resonates well with test consumers and contributes to the “freshness” of the product.” (See sidebar.)

The initial launch will reach thousands of consumers in New York and Paris. Reusable packages have the potential to allow technological features that make them more “intelligent,” able to anticipate user needs, and many other things we didn’t imagine possible. Think of it as a chance to deliver something to consumers that is really important to them — even an experience tailored to their unique lifestyle.

Quantify the result to insure leadership support. Make sure your team has created real value for your consumer, and not just a gimmick. Usability studies and in home usage tests provide a window into the real world. Also, collecting usage data directly from the package can unlock quantitative evaluation tools only dreamed of in the past! Think of this as designing an asset, so that it can be robustly engineered.

Identify suppliers early on to insure best implementation. Many existing packaging components are composed of plastics that may be difficult to clean and reuse. New global manufacturing partners may need to be part of an innovative solution. Finding the right partner and utilizing the right technology is key. Getting them involved early in the design process ensures a smooth and quick transition into production.

Transitioning from a use and toss packaging model to a durable package shouldn’t be seen as difficult or expensive but instead an opportunity for your team to innovate at a level never before seen in your category. The durable packaging movement is an opportunity for packaging professionals everywhere to be part of a truly sustainable product/package model that can have a tremendous impact in the world. Get out and inspire your teams to be a part of it!

Can brands avoid backlash as sustainability scrutiny piles up?

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Big businesses are some of the world's largest producers of waste, and they're under mounting pressure to craft strategies to address the issue. Experts advise that actions speak louder than words.

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Brands face a tough question as consumer calls for sustainability pile up: How do large producers of waste craft an environmentally conscious strategy that's authentic and won't create backlash? Experts advise that actions speak louder than words, which might be a hard pill to swallow for engagement-minded marketers. Campaigns against product materials like single-use plastics have swelled in recent years alongside problems like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a mass of detritus floating between California and Hawaii that recent estimates peg at being twice the size of Texas. Many marketers today are centering their strategies on social causes that resonate with young consumers, and have gravitated toward sustainability. Others are under mounting public pressure to change, including McDonald's, which earlier this summer announced it would reduce the amount of plastic used in Happy Meal toys in response to a viral Change.org petition. "It's really feeding into everybody's [communications]," Oliver Yonchev, U.S. managing director at the agency Social Chain, told Marketing Dive. "I would say 10-15% of what we do has some environmental messaging attached to it." But the reality is that sustainable messaging comes with the risk of sparking accusations of "green-washing," the idea of broadcasting positive environmental values and goals without living them out. It's an insult that's been lobbed for decades, but one that's found fresh relevance as a sister term, "woke-washing," gains traction in the purposeful branding era. The key to navigating the sustainability minefield, according to experts, is a larger degree of self-awareness among brands, specifically knowing when to let sustainable decisions speak for themselves versus amplifying claims in marketing that may not always measure up. Sustainability also must ladder down into all areas of an organization, including on the operational and business-to-business end, which can be overlooked. "To really survive the change curve here, brands need to break their internal silos to redesign product alongside the other zero waste 5Rs — it's not a marketing [issue alone]," Kathryn Callow, a futurist and former Unilever global media manager, said in emailed comments to Marketing Dive, referencing the principles of refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle and rot. "The list of brands in sustainability is endless[,] the list of brands making genuine impact is short," Callow said.

No time to waste

Even organizations renowned for their purpose-driven marketing have been accused of worsening the sustainability crisis. Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Mondelēz, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo were cited among the top-10 corporate contributors to global plastic pollution in a study conducted by Greenpeace and the Break Free From Plastic Movement last year. "The list of brands in sustainability is endless[,] the list of brands making genuine impact is short." Kathryn Callow Futurist But any business operating at a significant scale is susceptible to these problems. "The bigger you are, the more likely that you've not got the cleanest of records," Yonchev said. "That's just a universal truth." Greater attention is being paid to sustainability as vocal generations like Gen Z and millennials hold brands to higher standards. Nielsen recently found that 81% of surveyed global consumers across gender and generational lines felt strongly that businesses should help better the environment. "If a company's business model is inherently environmentally destructive, and its only effort to be sustainable stops at occasional philanthropy or window dressing, then today's consumers will see right through it," Christine Arena, founder and CEO of Generous, a marketing and production company focused on cause-led campaigns, said in emailed comments. Ways to keep brands accountable are also proliferating in the social media age. "Technology plays a big piece," Anthony Rossi, VP global business development at Loop, a startup arm of the private recycling firm TerraCylce, told Marketing Dive. "People are watching, and there are ways to track the companies to make sure they're on track with what they've promised." Lawmakers, too, are taking notice: City-level bans on single-use plastic itemslike straws and bags have picked up momentum in states like Florida, California and Washington. "Businesses inherently want to serve their customers and be relevant," Yonchev said. "But equally, I think they're cognizant that legislation is changing state-by-state." The threat of accelerating climate change, while more closely linked to carbon dioxide emissions, is also affecting the conversation around product sustainability. As with materials like single-use plastics, corporations are some of the biggest polluters of the atmosphere, and yet few are going to the lengths needed to curb their impact, according to Arena. "I'd like to see more CEOs speak out about climate change and more broadly advocate for climate solutions," Arena said. "It is both morally and economically risky for corporations to shirk this responsibility, and continue with business as usual."

Tangible change

Reactions to these trends are becoming more tangible: PepsiCo and Coca-Cola last month both cut ties to the Plastics Industry Association, a lobbying group representing manufacturers. They joined other massive companies like Clorox and Ecolab, CNBC reported. Aquafina, a PepsiCo water brand, plans to start packaging some products in aluminum in 2020. The coffee giant Starbucks has started to phase out disposable plastic straws, with plans to be rid of them in all stores next year. A desire for more direct solutions has resulted in broader business initiatives that appear to be catching consumers' attention as well. After three years in development and extensive testing, Loop formally launched earlier this yearwith initial partners including P&G and Nestlé, which are founding investors, along with Mondelēz, PepsiCo, Unilever, Danone and others. "It's not some 2030 transition. That was a really important carrot to dangle in front of the brands." Anthony Rossi VP of global business development, Loop The service offers sustainable packaging for an array of products from its partners, from diapers to razor blades, that are delivered, picked up and cleaned for reuse by Loop. The most important hook for the service was the baked-in infrastructure and immediacy of availability, according to Rossi. "It's not some 2030 transition," Rossi said. "That was a really important carrot to dangle in front of the brands, that this exists today. I'm not asking you to wait six years to try something."

'Disney-fying' sustainability

Loop, which is now available in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Maryland, has more than 100 products available, with more added every week, per Rossi. Some partners, such as P&G, have worked with TerraCycle for years — relationships that helped to lay the groundwork for Loop's rollout. "Operationally speaking, this is the biggest bite of the cake we've taken," Rossi said of Loop. "In its essence, what we're asking all of our partners to do is change the way that they operate, from the packaging they use to how they fill it, how it's being sold." Early signs seem promising, even if the availability is small. "The larger players getting involved with [startups] like [Loop] are welcome[,] but it's limited scale," Callow said. Loop's employee headcount could match its parent organization, which has 21 offices around the globe, according to Rossi. Five thousand people are currently registered for the service, but 90,000 people are on a waiting list to join, he added. "If the consumer isn't going to pay for this and want this, then none of it works," Rossi said. "The demand is there." Marketing the service is still complex. Loop has a dedicated unit that works with dozens of partners to integrate the platform's messaging into their brand equity, communications and advertisements. But the heavy lifting still falls on those partners' shoulders, since Loop doesn't have the necessary degree of consumer-facing awareness. "TerraCycle as a brand, it's not Disney," Rossi said. He compared the company to a firm like Intel, which supplies other companies with the technology to power the hardware consumers actually purchase. "People know Häagen-Dazs a lot more than they know Loop," Rossi said. "We want the brands to tell the story because they have the reach."

Embedding authenticity

Beyond consumer-facing marketing and packaging, expectations to be more sustainable are manifesting in less publicly visible arenas. The Freeman Company, an agency that helps clients design and run corporate events, has seen consumer-facing brands push harder for sustainable offerings after feeling pressure to go green. "There are so many sustainable decisions, as long as you make them at the beginning, and you're designing it in, it's embedded in your thinking," Melinda Kendall, Freeman's SVP of sustainability, told Marketing Dive. "Most sustainable decisions are cheaper; they involve doing less of something." Newer digital tools open interesting avenues on the sustainability front. Tactics like digital signage, immersive technology and mobile apps not only reduce the use of materials like paper and plastic, but also naturally fit into a demand for convenience that was growing regardless of sustainability trends, according to Kendall. "Most sustainable decisions are cheaper; they involve doing less of something." Melinda Kendall SVP of sustainability, Freeman Company "A lot of the growth lately has been in virtual reality and augmented reality," Kendall said of events-planning. "The more we can use technology to make that experience realistic, it's a very sustainable path." But like Callow, Kendall reinforced that a truly sustainable approach must be integrated across an organization internally, both for B2B and consumer-first brands. It's a cause that extends far beyond marketing and is more nuanced than many common definitions of the word suggest. "Often times, when people think about sustainability or purpose and all of that, they think in terms of it equaling recycling. All I have to do is put things in recycling bins," Kendall said. "That's good — that's better than landfill — and it's the least sustainable thing you can do out of a set of like six."