Has COVID-19 stopped the refill revolution? Not by a long shot, though just short of a year ago, the declaration of global pandemic did bring with it a plastic panic that saw businesses—and many consumers—swinging back to single-use.

Bans on bring-your-own durable bags, refusal of refillable beverage containers, disposable dishware at dine-in, the whole bit. Eventually, the reality of durable items being no more risky than disposables came back to light (unless explicitly “sterile,” single-use is not automatically sanitary), and consumers expressed continued desire for reuse.

Take Loop. Even at the fever pitch of anxiety when consumers were making purchases with safety, ease and comfort top-of-mind, our zero waste, circular reuse system of returnable glass, metal and plastic containers reported April 2020 sales twice as good as March, the month the world went into a state of emergency.

The bestsellers were refillable Clorox wipes (the “disposable” sheets recyclable through TerraCycle) and Häagen-Dazs ice cream in insulated metal tubs. All of the essential things consumers bought in frenzy at the start (cleaning supplies, personal care, soap, pasta) were on Loop, and consumers were comfortable with the reuse model and enjoyed the delivery aspect.

Fast-forward a bit and Loop officially expanded to all 48 contiguous US states from the initial Northeast launch, the concept continuing to expand to new models. For example, in 2021, Ulta Beauty, the first major beauty retailer to partner with Loop, will give consumers the opportunity to order their favorite personal care products in durable, reusable packaging.


Adding Value to Virtue

Growth for reusables, in a pandemic! Why? Our reuse system adds value to the virtues of single-use. Loop is contactless, conveniently delivered and offers items in beautiful packages. Consumers toss empties into the Loop Tote with the same ease as throwing them in the trash, don’t need to do any cleaning themselves and can enjoy their favorite brands in a new way.

But the next big phase will be to integrate in retail locations, where consumers will be able to return empty Loop containers and shop for refills at participating locations alongside conventionally packaged products. In the US, it will be in Walgreens and Kroger, and we started testing the in-store model at Carrefour in France late last year.

The shift to this model will reduce impacts across the supply chain even further. As consumers purchase reusable products through the Loop eCommerce model, the process is environmentally superior to alternatives in as few as three uses; through retail, the reuse process is measured to be environmentally superior to alternatives in as few as four uses.

We anticipate when Loop is widely in-store, with tens of thousands of SKUs and regular trips to the grocery, the return cycle will be even shorter and quicker than it is now, adding to the savings. In the current stand-alone pilot in the US where Loop is only available online, consumers tend to accumulate multiple empty containers before requesting a pickup.

But the key point of benefit now is cultivating this building desire of the consumer to get back to something simpler and more intuitive with the way they use products in their lives, and engaging companies to make the leap they’ve likely been toying with for some time. The effect is new opportunities for industry and reducing waste and pollution in the environment.

It’s uncertain as to when we will get out of our current situation with the pandemic, but perhaps getting to a “new normal” doesn’t look like a pendulum swing back into disposability and single-use, but a full-on dive into familiar, yet freshly modern models for household, personal care, and food and bev that are stronger and more valuable than what came before it. 

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About the Author
Tom Szaky is founder and CEO of TerraCycle, a global leader in the collection and repurposing of hard-to-recycle waste. TerraCycle operates in 20 countries, working with some of the world’s largest brands, retailers, cities and manufacturers to create national platforms to recycle products and packaging that currently go to landfill or incineration. He holds an International Baccalaureate from Upper Canada College and attended Princeton University where he developed the idea for TerraCycle. He is a frequent global lecturer including yearly appearances at Princeton University, Wharton School of Business, Harvard Business School and Yale University. www.terracycle.com, 866-967-6766