Originally interviewed in 2022 for the Marcus Evans AmericaPack Summit.
Anthony Rossi, EVP, Business Development, TerraCycle & Loop, discusses the challenges and opportunities surrounding reusable packaging, from consumer adoption and brand design to the operational and logistical changes required across the supply chain.
“Brands have to look at their product packaging in a new light. While adoption of reusable packaging requires operational and logistical changes across the industry, it is worth the investment as we see more and more consumers drawn to the product,” says Anthony Rossi, EVP, Business Development, TerraCycle & Loop.
There are many big changes happening, and manufacturers need to look at packaging in new ways. The Loop platform is a pre-fill reusable model, where our brand partners use reusable packaging, consumers take the empty bottles back to the retailer, the retailer sends them to Loop to be cleaned, and then the packaging is sent to the manufacturer to be refilled.
In this model, manufacturers need to consider different shapes and materials they have never used before and figure out how to refill and sell their products in an efficient manner. We are essentially asking manufacturers to change the way they do business, to push aside the single-use package model for one that is increasingly more appealing to consumers.
For retailers, it means changing how they merchandise products, accounting for deposits in their cash registers, training staff, etc. These changes cannot happen overnight, but adoption is growing rapidly.
Packaging has been a very powerful tool for brands and marketers for a very long time. It is how they communicate with consumers at the point of sale. With reusable packaging, what we are fundamentally changing is the idea of ownership. The packages can be used anywhere from 15 to over 100 times, and to get that longevity, manufacturers have to spend more money on design and materials.
A single-use package may cost a few cents. In a reusable model, they may have to budget five dollars for it, but it will help draw the attention of the consumer. Many people buy hand or dish soap at the store, and they empty them into reusable containers that look better on their shelf. Why not just give them soap in nice containers to begin with?
That is one of the ways we can attract environmentally conscious consumers: provide a better consumer experience, so they prefer the reusable packaging. Many brands are using this as an opportunity to elevate their branding and design.
There are many trends around reusability, such as the best way to integrate it into current retail environments and designing beautiful, innovative and functional packaging. However, I would say the biggest issue right now is trying to figure out how we can make reusability work efficiently and profitably, because it is clearly the model we need to adopt moving forward.
From a logistical standpoint, supply chains aren’t currently built for packaging to be returned and refilled. By changing the packaging, you need to change the entire filling operation, not to mention the manner in which a reusable package is filled versus a disposable one.
For example, ice cream is filled into disposable containers bottom-up, but top-down into a reusable container. Also, what the package is made of and how it is tested has to change in order to accommodate cleaning and refilling.
These are big changes that take time and money. That said, in the two years we have had Loop up and running, we have proven with multiple manufacturers that it can be done and have proven that consumers want this.
We have reusable packaging in use in Canada, Japan, France, the UK and the US.
"Many brands are using this as an opportunity to elevate their branding and design" - Anthony Rossi
View Anthony Rossi on Linkedin here.
Find out more about the next edition of the AmericaPack Summit here.
For more information, please contact: Kyriakos Xenophontos, kyriakosx@marcusevanscy.com