Refillable is Better Than Disposable
You know that reusable packaging is going mainstream when McDonald’s gets into the act. The fast food chain recently announced a partnership with Loop, a division of Terracycle. Customers pay a small deposit to buy a cup of coffee in a reusable cup and they get their deposit back when they return the cup to McDonald’s. The cup gets sanitized and refilled for the next customer.
Loop appears to be in the right place at the right time to expand its reach. Fear of contamination has many businesses refusing to allow customers to bring in reusable cups or bottles. Grocery stores allow reusable bags but only if customers bag their own groceries. I’ve written about this trend before and the unfortunate side effect of more disposable packaging.
But the Loop concept addresses both concerns: waste and cleanliness. I write about Loop in the section on alternative recycling programs in Chapter 2 of Rethink the Bins. As I noted, it sounds like a great idea. Loop delivers national brands of grocery, household, and personal care products to the doorstep in refillable containers. Products are delivered in a reusable tote. Customers send back the empties for cleaning and refilling.
Speaking of Loop, I’ve been reading a book by Terracycle’s CEO Tom Szaky called The Future of Packaging: From Linear to Circular. It’s a helpful resource for businesses looking for better ways to package their products and manage their waste handling. But the book contains insights for anyone who wants to learn more about the history of recycling and support brands that are working to reduce waste.
Szaky didn’t write the whole book, which was a good move since that makes it more than a piece of marketing collateral for his company. He invited 15 experts to each write a chapter in this anthology. Not all the chapters are equally useful, particularly for a reader like me who has researched packaging and recycling extensively. Overall, though, I recommend the book.
Chapter 6, “Designing Packaging for the Simple Recycler: How MRFs Work” by Ron Gonen, is especially informative. Gonen is the co-founder of Closed Loop Partners and Recyclebank and was a Commissioner for Recycling and Sustainability with New York City. His chapter looks into what happens at the material recovery facilities (MRFs) that sort and process the items tossed into recycling bins. It addresses issues that I cover in Chapter 2 of Rethink the Bins like contamination and the limitations of sorting technology but goes into more detail.
Chapter 10, “The Forgotten Ones: Pre-consumer Waste” by Unilever CEO Tony Dunnage, examines the waste generated behind the scenes before a product gets to retail shelves (or to your doorstep if you order by mail).
Dunnage’s chapter uses Unilever as a case study for achieving zero waste to landfill. It isn’t the only company to revamp its operations so it reuses or recycles as much manufacturing waste as possible, but too few are embracing the practice. The Zero Waste to Landfill certification allows companies to burn waste for energy, but reuse and recycling should take priority.
It should not surprise my readers I endorse the message of The Future of Packaging that businesses, governments, and citizens all have a responsibility to reduce waste. Businesses have a lot to gain when they take the lead. Achieving zero waste to landfill, for example, costs some money up front but saves much more each year once companies have a system in place. It also helps build the company’s reputation as a conservation-minded brand.
Switching from disposable to reusable packaging is a simple piece of the puzzle. Upstream, suppliers can ship parts to manufacturers in reusable containers. Downstream, consumer-facing companies can offer their products—anything from shampoo delivered to your doorstep to coffee ordered at a fast-food restaurant—in returnable containers. I hope that more creative partnerships like the one between McDonald’s and Loop spring up to make it easier for more people to ditch disposable packaging.