By Saabira Chaudhuri
The backlash against single-use plastic has sent big brands
scrambling to reinvent packaging. So far, they are struggling.
To tackle waste and emissions tied to plastic, consumer goods
companies such as Unilever PLC and Nestlé SA are trying to use
less, switch to other materials and convince customers to use
refillable containers. But those efforts face big challenges.
Switching to paper or glass has its own environmental negatives,
while refill models are often expensive or inconvenient. Efforts so
far are niche and it isn't clear whether they will scale up.
Cutting down on plastic is "the area that's going to require the
most innovation," said Richard Slater, Unilever's head of research
and development. The maker of Dove soap and Hellmann's mayonnaise
recently promised to reduce its plastic packaging -- which
currently stands at 700,000 metric tons a year -- by 100,000 metric
tons by 2025 through refillable packaging, smaller containers and
swapping materials.
Unilever recently scrapped individual wrappers for bulk packs of
its Solero ice lollies, instead using a polyethylene-covered
cardboard box with dividers, cutting plastic by 35%. It also
launched a concentrated version of its Cif household cleaner
intended to be diluted with water at home and attached to a
reusable spray bottle, reducing plastic by 75%. The Solero change
only applied to one seasonal flavor at a single British retailer,
while the Cif refill was wrapped in a nonrecyclable plastic safety
seal, also just in Britain.
Philip Vasquez, a 27-year-old lawyer, said he isn't drawn to
products like the Cif refill because it still uses plastic. Mr.
Vasquez says he would like to cut down on plastic but finds it
difficult. "If everything is plastic, we literally have no choice
but to consume it."
Mr. Slater said Unilever's plastic-reduction efforts are "all
very niche" but it needs to start small to learn what works. "The
daunting challenge we've got is we need to take these to
scale."
Consumer giants are trying to cut virgin plastic to appeal to
shoppers and comply with -- or forestall -- regulation. Unilever
plans to halve its use of virgin plastic by 2025, while Procter
& Gamble Co. has pledged to do the same by 2030. Mars Inc. and
PepsiCo. Inc. have similar plans.
Companies hope to mostly achieve those reductions by switching
to recycled plastic, but there isn't supply to keep up with surging
demand, Rabobank analyst Richard Freundlich said. That is prompting
them to look beyond recycling.
One fledgling effort, which aims to deliver products and collect
back empty packaging, harks back to the milkman.
Recycling firm TerraCycle this summer launched a service called
Loop in New York and Paris that sells products like Unilever's Axe
deodorant, Nestlé SA's Häagen-Dazs ice cream and P&G's Pantene
shampoo in containers designed to be returned and refilled. But
customer numbers are limited and its launch in London was delayed
to give brands more time to figure out logistics.
But analysts say Loop, which charges a flat shipping fee of $15
for orders under $100 and deposits of up to $10, is aimed at the
wealthy and is hence unlikely to scale widely. Loop says it is
still in pilot phase and costs will drop as it scales and starts
partnering with more physical retailers.
An August survey by Global Data showed 71% of 2,000 U.K.
shoppers polled said they would buy food from a refill store if the
option were available. Shoppers aged 16 to 24 were more than twice
as likely to have shopped for food refillables as older ones.
Curtis Rogers of Austin, Texas, washes his clothes with
P&G's Tide, which comes in hard plastic containers, but the
38-year-old entrepreneur said he would switch to any brand that
offers detergent refills. "Hard plastic will last forever, which
makes it a great candidate for refilling and reusing," he said,
adding that brands should set up refill stations at farmers markets
and outside stores.
Despite consumer interest, refillable packaging is rare due to
logistical complications around cleaning, returning and
refilling.
"As soon as you raise the barrier of convenience or cost to
consumers their propensity to change their behavior changes
significantly," said Simon Lowden, president of PepsiCo's global
snacks group.
Just 3% of packaging from 139 consumer goods companies,
retailers and packaging producers polled by the Ellen MacArthur
Foundation -- a nonprofit focused on waste -- is designed to be
reusable. Notable examples are mostly limited to beverages, like
water jugs for offices or bottle-deposit programs. In Brazil,
Coca-Cola Co. is investing about $25 million to launch "a universal
bottle," which can be returned and refilled with of its brands.
Beyond drinks, past trials have flopped. Walmart Inc.'s U.K.
unit, Asda Group Ltd., a decade ago ran a trial selling fabric
conditioner in refillable pouches. The conditioner was transported
to stores in bulk, stored at the back and piped into the aisle. But
there were spillages and shoppers didn't reuse the pouches
enough.
Using alternative materials can also get messy. Nestlé this
summer launched a line of its Nesquik powder in paper packets
rather than plastic tubs. But a sample sent to The Wall Street
Journal arrived leaking. A company spokeswoman said it found "no
major issues" with the packaging in regular use, and said it was
likely due to the product arriving via mail.
Paper, as well as being less resilient, requires more water and
energy to produce, argue plastic manufacturers. Plastic also better
protects against contamination and food waste.
Helen Bird of WRAP, a British nonprofit, said plastic-reduction
targets "could encourage the wrong behavior" given that all
materials have some environmental impact. Instead, WRAP encourages
companies to scrap unnecessary plastic and ensure what remains is
recycled.
Write to Saabira Chaudhuri at saabira.chaudhuri@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 26, 2019 07:14 ET (12:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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