Loop, the circular product and package manufacturing and distribution platform that graced the cover of Packaging World last month was developed by TerraCycle, Inc. and is now supported by two-dozen or so international brand owners.

New Loop circular platform promotes reusable consumer product packaging

 

The Loop system, created by New Jersey-based Terracycle, could change the way people consume goods.

By Kevin J. RyanStaff writer, Inc.@wheresKR

CREDIT: Terracycle

 

Loop is changing the way we approach packaging through a zero-waste delivery and retail modelANDREW SEAMAN / UNSPLASH Ease, affordability, and convenience: these concepts that have quickly come to the forefront of the way that we operate and prioritize. Yet these priorities have come at odds with our growing environmental crisis, where individuals are starting to get curious about what they can do to lighten their environmental impact. Many struggle to balance a sustainable lifestyle with the prevalence and ease of a culture reliant on disposable products. Enter Loop, a new initiative pioneered by TerraCycle and a coalition of over a dozen brands including Unilever, P&G, PepsiCo, Nestle, People Against Dirty, Burlap & Barrel Single Origin Spices, and more, setting out to bring ease, affordability, and convenience to zero waste consumable goods. Loop combines innovation, sustainability, and convenience, allowing consumers to easily integrate zero waste into their purchasing decisions . By shifting the onus of the packaging to the manufacturers, the customers are able to get better products for the same price, plus a deposit, with essentially no waste. The implications are vast, and the program allows brands to innovate on both product and environmental solutions at the same time. For example, Unilever created minim, a reusable deodorant line that features Axe, Dove, and Rexona (called Sure in the UK and Degree in the US), for Loop. These three products currently reach over 1 billion people per year, and minim’s reusable container can be refilled up to 100 times. In addition to reducing waste, innovative packaging also leads to improved user experience. “The beautifully crafted design is minimal, compact and sustainable, offering a new consumer experience without any unnecessary materials,” shared Augusto Garzon, Global Brand Director, Deodorants at Unilever. Having already committed to ensuring their plastic packaging is reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025, Loop is helping push Unilever forward in their sustainability goals. “We believe Loop will complement our existing efforts to create a plastic system that works and a packaging system that is truly circular by design,” commented David Blanchard, Unilever’s Chief R&D Officer. Loop’s goal is to make the circular economy and zero waste packaging accessible, and to that end, they are committed to working with manufacturers of all sizes. “We are partnering aggressively with every manufacturer, big and small,” emphasized Tom Szaky, CEO of TerraCycle. “At the beginning, we are prioritizing [the] biggest [companies] first, since they are the biggest part of the challenge, and their scale is so large,” he commented, while also welcoming companies of any size in taking part. While the product selection may seem limited at first, the products featured are some of the most highly consumed products in the country, such as Tropicana orange juice and Haagen-Dazs ice cream. Shifting to reusable packing for those products can make a big splash in keeping packaging out of the landfill as well as the recycling stream. The leap for consumers to try out the program,Szaky contended, should not be a heavy load. “It’s already the world’s best products and the world’s best retailers, so it’s not a big leap of faith,” he explained. “The cheaper, easier, and more convenient we make it, the more people will adopt it.” The user experience is simple: products can be ordered online and shipped to the customer’s home in a reusable bag. When the customer is finished with the product, they put it back in the bag, and UPS, Loop’s logistical partner, picks it up and brings it back to be cleaned and refilled. Customers can either get their deposit returned or get the product refilled. Loop will also be rolling out the option to purchase and return to major retailers. The slight inconvenience of needing to return the bottle will also be offset by the innovation and design of the reusable packaging, Szaky purported. Loop allows companies to shift their focus from low-quality materials to durable and user experience-forward packaging. This enables companies to include “features that never could have existed before,” according to Szaky, such as an ice cream container that keeps your ice cream frozen for several hours, all at little to no extra cost for the customer (except for a deposit). Typically the consumer pays for the entire cost of a disposable package, whereas with Loop, the cost of the more expensive, reusable package, plus cleaning, will be averaged over the estimated lifespan of the container. Szakyhopes that the innovating packaging, as well as options to get refills upon return when ordering online, will incentivize consumers to partake in the program. Loop comes at a time where the zero waste movement is not just trendy, but necessary. “Addressing CO2 emissions from plastics is crucial for a successful transition to a low-carbon economy. But after 40 years of efforts to improve recycling, just 14% of plastic is collected for recycling today. It is clear that we cannot simply recycle our way to a plastic waste-free future," shared Sander Defruyt, Lead of the New Plastics Economy initiative at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. A new model is necessary as it becomes more readily apparent that recycling is not the best solution to our environmental crisis. “We need to eliminate the plastic we don’t need, and innovate so what we do need is circulated safely. New approaches that recognize the vital role of reuse and avoid the need for single-use plastic, like Loop, are a vital step in the shift to a circular economy,” cautionedDefruyt. Loop is launching New York and Paris this year. While specialty package free grocery stores, such as Nada and Precycle, as well as zero waste delivery service The Wally Shop, are popping up across the country for consumers already focused on reducing waste, Loop is complementing their work on a massive scale, working with some of the biggest companies in the world to tackle the problem head-on. “The future of consumption is that waste should not exist,” Szaky declared. The feels like a big step in that direct Loop is changing the way we approach packaging through a zero-waste delivery and retail modelANDREW SEAMAN / UNSPLASH Ease, affordability, and convenience: these concepts that have quickly come to the forefront of the way that we operate and prioritize. Yet these priorities have come at odds with our growing environmental crisis, where individuals are starting to get curious about what they can do to lighten their environmental impact. Many struggle to balance a sustainable lifestyle with the prevalence and ease of a culture reliant on disposable products. Enter Loop, a new initiative pioneered by TerraCycle and a coalition of over a dozen brands including Unilever, P&G, PepsiCo, Nestle, People Against Dirty, Burlap & Barrel Single Origin Spices, and more, setting out to bring ease, affordability, and convenience to zero waste consumable goods. Loop combines innovation, sustainability, and convenience, allowing consumers to easily integrate zero waste into their purchasing decisions . By shifting the onus of the packaging to the manufacturers, the customers are able to get better products for the same price, plus a deposit, with essentially no waste. The implications are vast, and the program allows brands to innovate on both product and environmental solutions at the same time. For example, Unilever created minim, a reusable deodorant line that features Axe, Dove, and Rexona (called Sure in the UK and Degree in the US), for Loop. These three products currently reach over 1 billion people per year, and minim’s reusable container can be refilled up to 100 times. In addition to reducing waste, innovative packaging also leads to improved user experience. “The beautifully crafted design is minimal, compact and sustainable, offering a new consumer experience without any unnecessary materials,” shared Augusto Garzon, Global Brand Director, Deodorants at Unilever. Having already committed to ensuring their plastic packaging is reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025, Loop is helping push Unilever forward in their sustainability goals. “We believe Loop will complement our existing efforts to create a plastic system that works and a packaging system that is truly circular by design,” commented David Blanchard, Unilever’s Chief R&D Officer. Loop’s goal is to make the circular economy and zero waste packaging accessible, and to that end, they are committed to working with manufacturers of all sizes. “We are partnering aggressively with every manufacturer, big and small,” emphasized Tom Szaky, CEO of TerraCycle. “At the beginning, we are prioritizing [the] biggest [companies] first, since they are the biggest part of the challenge, and their scale is so large,” he commented, while also welcoming companies of any size in taking part. While the product selection may seem limited at first, the products featured are some of the most highly consumed products in the country, such as Tropicana orange juice and Haagen-Dazs ice cream. Shifting to reusable packing for those products can make a big splash in keeping packaging out of the landfill as well as the recycling stream. The leap for consumers to try out the program,Szaky contended, should not be a heavy load. “It’s already the world’s best products and the world’s best retailers, so it’s not a big leap of faith,” he explained. “The cheaper, easier, and more convenient we make it, the more people will adopt it.” The user experience is simple: products can be ordered online and shipped to the customer’s home in a reusable bag. When the customer is finished with the product, they put it back in the bag, and UPS, Loop’s logistical partner, picks it up and brings it back to be cleaned and refilled. Customers can either get their deposit returned or get the product refilled. Loop will also be rolling out the option to purchase and return to major retailers. The slight inconvenience of needing to return the bottle will also be offset by the innovation and design of the reusable packaging, Szaky purported. Loop allows companies to shift their focus from low-quality materials to durable and user experience-forward packaging. This enables companies to include “features that never could have existed before,” according to Szaky, such as an ice cream container that keeps your ice cream frozen for several hours, all at little to no extra cost for the customer (except for a deposit). Typically the consumer pays for the entire cost of a disposable package, whereas with Loop, the cost of the more expensive, reusable package, plus cleaning, will be averaged over the estimated lifespan of the container. Szakyhopes that the innovating packaging, as well as options to get refills upon return when ordering online, will incentivize consumers to partake in the program. Loop comes at a time where the zero waste movement is not just trendy, but necessary. “Addressing CO2 emissions from plastics is crucial for a successful transition to a low-carbon economy. But after 40 years of efforts to improve recycling, just 14% of plastic is collected for recycling today. It is clear that we cannot simply recycle our way to a plastic waste-free future," shared Sander Defruyt, Lead of the New Plastics Economy initiative at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. A new model is necessary as it becomes more readily apparent that recycling is not the best solution to our environmental crisis. “We need to eliminate the plastic we don’t need, and innovate so what we do need is circulated safely. New approaches that recognize the vital role of reuse and avoid the need for single-use plastic, like Loop, are a vital step in the shift to a circular economy,” cautionedDefruyt. Loop is launching New York and Paris this year. While specialty package free grocery stores, such as Nada and Precycle, as well as zero waste delivery service The Wally Shop, are popping up across the country for consumers already focused on reducing waste, Loop is complementing their work on a massive scale, working with some of the biggest companies in the world to tackle the problem head-on. “The future of consumption is that waste should not exist,” Szaky declared. The feels like a big step in that direction.

据报道，整个测试活动的幕后功臣是一家名为泰瑞环保（TerraCycle）的环保回收公司。测试过程中，消费者体验完毕的空容器将全部由塔拉负责处理，包括空容器的运输、退货、清洁和重新填装。塔拉公司的主业是为企业运作可回收项目，它同时也从事资源再生业务，其最知名的项目，是将香烟过滤嘴和薯片外装等，加工改造成烟灰缸和书包。

周四在瑞士达沃斯，全球25个最大的品牌宣布，他们将很快提供可重复使用的容器产品。诸如Tropicana橙汁、Dove除臭剂、Tide洗衣粉、Quaker谷物和Häagen-Dazs冰淇淋等产品将以玻璃或不锈钢容器提供，而不是一次性使用的一次性包装。

近日，包裹递送服务公司UPS与全球多家知名大型消费产品公司以及回收利用全球领导品牌泰瑞环保（TerraCycle）强强联手，共同推出了一个回收利用的全新系统，几乎可以摆脱塑料用品世界的不利影响。这个名为“loop”的系统鼓励可重复利用可归还的再利用形式，通过管理消费产品包装的方式达到让消费者减少一次性包装消费的效果。

最近，包裹递送服务公司 UPS 与全球多家知名大型消费产品公司以及回收利用品牌 T泰瑞环保（TerraCycle) 联手，共同推出了一个回收利用的全新系统，几乎可以摆脱塑料用品世界的不利影响。这个名为 Loop 的系统鼓励可重复利用可归还的再利用形式，通过管理消费产品包装的方式达到让消费者减少一次性包装消费的效果。

If you’ve ever heard your older family members reminisce about days of old when milkmen used to deliver milk in reusable glass bottles every morning, imagining such a thing might seem kind of quaint and old timey. But those old-school milk deliveries were onto something when it comes to minimizing waste. In an effort to revive and update the grocery home delivery model, Loop, a new zero-waste consumer goods delivery platform, is launching this spring in the United States and France. This basically means that, come spring, you can get your groceries delivered in reusable packaging, and nothing gets thrown out. According to Adele Peters writing for Fast Company, once you’ve cleared out all your (super cute) stainless steel containers, you send them back to Loop, where they get cleaned, sterilized, and reused for other customers. According to the brand’s official website, Loop is partnering with a slew of top brands to make “your everyday essentials … available in durable, functional packaging that’s beautiful enough to display.” Instead of getting one box delivered every month, as is typical with delivery subscriptions, Loop will automatically resend items as you return your containers, so your supplies get replenished as you need them. It was not immediately apparent how the prices for these products will be different than buying them conventionally. Courtesy of Loop Given that plastics are filling up our oceans and destroying marine life while adding to massive levels of pollution worldwide, according to Danielle Wiener-Bronner writing for CNN, zero-waste consumer solutions come not a moment too soon. Tom Szaky, CEO and co-founder of Loop partner, TerraCycle, told Peters for Fast Company that “We run what is today the world’s largest supply chain on ocean plastic, collecting it and going into Unilever and Procter & Gamble products and so on. But every day, more and more gets put in the ocean, so no matter how much we clean the ocean, we’re never going to solve the problem. That’s really where Loop emerged: To us, the root cause of waste is not plastic, per se, it’s using things once, and that’s really what Loop tries to change as much as possible.” Courtesy of Loop Each reusable Loop package is designed to last for at least 100 uses, Peters wrote, and product orders can be placed via the Loop website once the platform is launched. Your products will get delivered in a UPS-designed reusable tote, and as you use your stuff up, just toss the canisters back into the tote. You’ll then be able to either drop off your Loop bag at your nearest UPS, or schedule a pick-up from the Loop site. If you’d like to queue up to get on the waitlist for the upcoming rollout, you can sign up on the website’s home page.   About 300 products are slated for launch via the Loop platform, Wiener-Bronner wrote for CNN, including Tide brand laundry detergent, Crest oral health supplies, Häagen-Dazs ice cream, Pantene shampoo, and Nature’s Path Organic items. Peters also wrote that eight out of 10 of the major brands listed by Greenpeace as being primary contributors to the global plastics crisis are on board as part of the new platform.   Given the overwhelming scale of the global plastics crisis, eco-friendly solutions that revamp the way companies do packaging, is long overdue as a mainstream concern.