Following a successful launch in New York and Paris, ‘circular’ delivery service Loop is expanding in a number of countries, including Japan and Australia, as well as in Europe and to more cities in the US. More brands including supermarkets are seeking to partner with the reusable packaging online ordering platform, in response to growing public demand for sustainable consumerism.
The service involves customers ordering on the Loop website, choosing from an increasingly wide range of household goods and grocery brands; the items are delivered (via UPS) in reusable tote bags, and in reusable packaging, with the bags and containers returned to Loop for cleaning before being used for another customer’s order. By reducing unnecessary product packaging, the system has a lower carbon footprint than buying the same products in traditional packaging at stores.
The partnership with big-name brands has led to a number of packaging innovations, such as Häagen-Dazs’ stainless steel ice-cream containers, which not only keep their contents colder for longer than plastic tubs but are easy for Loop to sterilise and reuse. TerraCycle, the company behind the service, says Loop is shifting responsibility for packaging away from the retailer and the consumer and back to the manufacturer, forcing them to see it as an asset worth investing in, in a sustainable way.
Loop’s quickly growing success shows the commercial viability of sustainable retail and the willingness of household names, not just start-ups, to get involved in the circular economy – even if the overriding reason is the fact that soon they will have no choice to do so due to depleting resources and increasing disquiet about the climate crisis and pollution.
further reading…
Following a successful launch in New York and Paris, ‘circular’ delivery service Loop is expanding in a number of countries, including Japan and Australia, as well as in Europe and to more cities in the US. More brands including supermarkets are seeking to partner with the reusable packaging online ordering platform, in response to growing public demand for sustainable consumerism.
The service involves customers ordering on the Loop website, choosing from an increasingly wide range of household goods and grocery brands; the items are delivered (via UPS) in reusable tote bags, and in reusable packaging, with the bags and containers returned to Loop for cleaning before being used for another customer’s order. By reducing unnecessary product packaging, the system has a lower carbon footprint than buying the same products in traditional packaging at stores.
The partnership with big-name brands has led to a number of packaging innovations, such as Häagen-Dazs’ stainless steel ice-cream containers, which not only keep their contents colder for longer than plastic tubs but are easy for Loop to sterilise and reuse. TerraCycle, the company behind the service, says Loop is shifting responsibility for packaging away from the retailer and the consumer and back to the manufacturer, forcing them to see it as an asset worth investing in, in a sustainable way.
Loop’s quickly growing success shows the commercial viability of sustainable retail and the willingness of household names, not just start-ups, to get involved in the circular economy – even if the overriding reason is the fact that soon they will have no choice to do so due to depleting resources and increasing disquiet about the climate crisis and pollution.