Post by account_disabled on Feb 19, 2024 23:20:29 GMT -5
From a greater number of reusable packaging, to a greater number of companies that recover used products, to more trained designers, 2021 will be a key year in the development of new systems that generate less waste. Right now, most of the world's economy is linear: materials are extracted, processed, manufactured, sold, and finally dumped into landfills. But the idea of a circular economy, in which materials are used in a closed loop, functioning as renewable energy, is gaining traction, and many companies are setting goals to become circular in the coming decades. The next few years will be crucial to solidify the growing circular economy. Here are seven trends that will likely help you expand in 2021. 1. More brands will use reusable packaging A growing number of companies are rethinking product design to avoid disposable packaging: Blueland and Everdrop now sell cleaning products in tablet form that can be placed in reusable bottles. Bite sells small toothpaste tablets to avoid standard plastic tubes. Nestlé is starting to test in-store refill stations for coffee and pet food. A startup called Algramo is rolling out refill stations for detergent and cleaning products in laundromats. McDonald's is testing reusable coffee cups that can be thrown into a bin for cleaning.
Burger King is testing a reusable container for Whopper. Loop, the system that delivers mainstream products like Häagen-Dazs ice cream in reusable and returnable packaging, continues to grow. Dove just launched a stainless steel refillable deodorant holder. The goal is for you to keep it and almost appreciate it. I think we're going to start seeing more offers that are desirable. They break with the idea that this is only for the enlightened few. Joe Iles, expert on the subject. 2. Remaining plastic packaging will shrink and be easier to recycle In some cases, companies are Europe Cell Phone Number List eliminating extra packaging entirely: Walmart, for example, has stopped wrapping some individual products in plastic film in Canadian stores. While others are also finding solutions. Carlsberg replaced some plastic six-pack rings with a new type of glue. Apeel makes a safe, edible coating that can protect fruit from decay without wrapping it in plastic. Companies that focus on local production, like Infarm, which grows vegetables and herbs directly inside grocery stores, can avoid packaging that would normally be used in transportation. Other designs still use plastic, but make the packaging easier to recycle, such as a label-less water bottle that's made from a single material (of course, the best option for water is a reusable container.
This type of innovation will continue to grow as the problems with plastic become more evident: By 2040, according to a recent report, the amount of plastic flowing into the ocean could triple without major changes to the current system. 3. More companies will recall products when they have completed their use If you no longer want your old pair of Levi's, the company will pay you to bring them back to sell on a second-hand market. Others, like Patagonia, also recover pieces of old clothing, repairing and renewing them so they can find a second life. Startups, like sneaker brand Thousand Fell, take back their shoes when users have worn them out so they can be recycled (unlike most sneakers, the shoes were designed from the beginning to be recyclable.