UK's first online shopping service for reusable packaging launched

A new zero-waste shopping service that offers goods from leading brands is set to launch Wednesday, aiming to reduce single-use plastic in product packaging.

Loop  – which has already launched in France and the US, and is due to be rolled out in Japan, Australia and Canada next year – is the first of its kind in the UK.

The scheme is backed by several major companies such as Unilever and PepsiCo, who have created eco-friendly versions of several popular brands, including Tropicana, Persil and Hellmann’s, to sell via the online store.

The project itself is being launched in partnership with Tesco in the UK.

Customers place orders on this online store and the goods are delivered in durable, refillable and reusable containers that are delivered by courier and can be cleaned and reused up to 100 times. The products are fully refundable when the empty item is returned.

Once the customer has finished with the product, they can schedule a pick-up of their empty containers, which can either be combined with their next delivery or taken to one of 2,500 collection points across the UK.

Loop added they will professionally clean the packaging as to minimise health and safety risks from reusing such containers.

At its onset, the store will offer 150 products from 35 major brands, with more to be added. At first, shoppers will only be able to buy from the Loop website but the partnership from Tesco aims to eventually add dedicated aisles in its stores for this very process.

Prices will be comparable to the equivalent plastic container, but with returnable deposits for the refillable containers.

Tesco says that it partnered with the company to best understand how a shopping service using recyclable packaging could work in the UK.

They added that many companies will be working together intending to make products in reusable packaging available in Tesco stores as early as 2021.

Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis said: “Through our closed-loop strategy of remove, reduce, re-use and recycle, Tesco has a clear ambition to reduce packaging.

“Our ground-breaking partnership with Loop has been designed to test a new way of helping customers use less plastic and explore the exciting potential of re-use.

“We will learn what works at scale as we develop plans with Loop to introduce reusable packaging into our business.”

The Loop scheme is run by the recycling company TerraCycle, who hope that launching it will offer a successful national trial. They hope to use it to surge interest in online shopping and reduce net waste from shopping. A similar scheme was launched by the company last year to reduce waste from plastic toys.

Tom Szaky, founder and chief executive of Loop and TerraCycle said: “Loop was designed from the ground up to reinvent the way we consume by learning from historic circular and sustainable models like the milkman from yesteryear while honouring the convenience afforded by our single-use consumption of today.

"Tesco is the perfect partner to bring Loop to retail in the UK due to its commitment to sustainability, in combating plastics waste, and its operational scale as the UK's biggest grocery retailer."

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