A REUSE LABORATORY
This summer the Loop zero waste shopping platform expanded to another geography, partnering with Tesco to launch a pilot e-commerce programme in the UK. Tim Sykes spoke to the retail giant’s James Bull (head of packaging) and Giles Bolton (responsible sourcing director) to understand their aspirations for the collaboration and how it fits in Tesco’s broader packaging and collaboration strategies.
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ollowing initial trials in the New York and Paris metro areas, TerraCycle’s widely discussed Loop concept has launched throughout Great Britain in partnership with Tesco. Via a dedicated website, consumers across the UK will be able to order branded goods packaged in reusable packaging for which they pay a deposit. The goods will be delivered, and then the empty containers will be collected for washing and reuse. As well as leveraging its extensive home delivery resources to facilitate the online shopping partnership, Tesco is looking at Loop with a broader, omnichannel curiosity. “The standalone e-commerce pilot will generate a lot of understanding for the participating brands about consumer enthusiasm for the Loop concept across the UK,” Giles Bolton remarked. “However, we’re also going to be running an in-store trial, which will be even more interesting in terms of the learning opportunities for us. We’ll find out how our customers interact with Loop products, alongside with regular product offerings. Especially interesting will be insights into how we could make this model work – and
how we could scale it up. We want to understand things like how we’d handle the logistics of customer returns, and ensuring customer transparency around how much they are paying for the product itself versus how much as deposit for the container.” This trial will effectively turn a handful of stores in one region, served by a single logistics centre, into a living laboratory studying customer interaction with reusable systems. Tesco has deliberately designed the experiment on a relatively small scale, limiting the volume demands on manufacturers, with the objective of learning quickly.
‘Radical and old-fashioned’ The embrace of Loop fits under one pillar of Tesco’s ‘4Rs’ sustainable packaging strategy. The retailer has pledged to eliminate unnecessary packaging (‘Remove’), such as rigid lids on cream pots, and has committed to eliminate a billion pieces of plastic by the end of 2020; it is also looking to optimise the amount of packaging used (‘Reduce’). Packaging Europe | 13 |
