Milkman model used by P&G to promote environmental sustainability

With consumers piling the pressure on companies to be more mindful of environmental issues and reduce plastic waste, major brands have partnered with new platform Loop to introduce reusable packaging.

P&G, putting sustainability front and centre, announced a partnership with Loop at the World Economic forum at Davos last week. This in conjunction with Procter & Gamble’s initiative ‘Ambition 2030’ which seeks to “Enable and inspire positive impact on the environment and society while creating value for the company and consumers.”

Government bans on single-use packaging is becoming more commonplace. With plastic production increasing, and with China announcing they will no longer collect and process plastic waste, packaging sustainability is an issue which urgently needs to be addressed by major manufacturers.

Taking inspiration from the old-fashioned milkman, e-commerce platform Loop along with parent company TerraCycle have introduced the concept of ‘circular shopping’ whereby consumers can have used packaging picked up from their doorstep by Loop and refilled. This reduces packaging waste without compromising user convenience.

Exclusively an online service, Loop’s milkman model uses durable, reusable metal and glass packaging which, once collected by partner organisation United Parcel Service, is cleaned and sanitised before being refilled and returned to the customer’s doorstep. Any surplus or damaged packaging is recycled by the company. Customers pay a fully refundable deposit for the packaging and can mitigate shipping costs by buying in larger quantities. Loop will launch across the United States and France, and there is already a waiting list for consumers. Its partners include major brands like Dove, Hellman’s and the Body Shop.

P&G have included a trial number of their own household brands, including Pantene and Oral B. The trial service will be rolled out in May 2019, and continue to be developed for wider release later in the year.