Tide, Clorox, PepsiCo and Other Big Brands Are Thinking Maybe the Milkman Had It Right

A new shopping platform announced Thursday at the World Economic Forum aims to change the way we buy many brand-name products.Loop, as the platform is called, would do away with disposable containers for things like shampoo and laundry detergent from some of the world's biggest manufacturers. Instead, those goods will be delivered in sleek, reusable containers that will be picked up at your door, washed and refilled."Loop is about the future of consumption. And one of the tenets is that garbage shouldn't exist," says Tom Szaky, CEO of the Trenton, New Jersey-based international recycling company TerraCycle, which is behind Loop."Removing plastics from the ocean is not enough. We need to get at the whole idea of disposability and single-use items," says Szaky. "We're going back to the milkman model of the 1950s. You buy the milk but the milk company owns the bottle, which you leave in the milk box to be picked up when you're done with it."Companies partnering with Loop include Nestle, Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo and other top brands."Our goal is that by 2030, all of our packaging will be reusable or recyclable," says Virginie Helias, vice president and chief sustainability officer at Procter & Gamble. Loop, she said, "is a very new idea and somewhat risky because no one has tried it. But the response has been very positive, and we've selected 10 of our brands to be a part of the pilot project, with a plan to add more later pending positive results."Pantene shampoo, for instance, "will come in a beautifully decorated, lightweight-aluminum pump container," Helias says. "Tide in the U.S. will come in a stainless-steel bottle with a durable twist cap. Cascade will come in ultra-durable packaging. Crest mouthwash will come in a glass bottle. The idea is ultra-durability, convenience and also ultra-luxurious packaging."Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream, a Nestle product, will be delivered in a posh, double-walled, stainless-steel tub designed to keep ice cream cold longer.  Continue reading...