Loblaws to start selling products in reusable containers
Canada's largest supermarket chain has announced that it will start offering products in reusable containers to Torontonians as early as next year.
Canadian grocer Loblaws revealed that it will launch a trial run of its recycling initiative sometime in early 2020.
Partnering with the newly-launched Loop program by New Jersey-based recycling company TerraCycle, the service will first be available to customers buying online.
When customers are done with the packaging, Loblaws will pick them up from their door, sending it over to Loop to be cleaned before re-using them again.
In-store purchasing and returns are expected to follow several months after the online launch.
In a statement from Loop released earlier this year, the goal is to offer hundreds of products in reusable packaging to residents within a 200- to 300-kilometre radius of Toronto.
That includes everyday stuff like Haagen-Dazs ice cream, Nestle foods, and skincare products from Proctor & Gamble.
How it works: customers will first be charged a deposit of every container they order. They'll then get their products in a specially-designed Loop shipping tote.
Once they've finished their product, they'll be required to place the containers back in their Loop totes, and schedule a pick-up from their home, after which they'll be refunded their deposits.
Loop has also partnered with similar retailers worldwide, like one of Europe's biggest retail chains, Carrefour, which just launched its pilot project in Paris last month.
Walgreens in certain cities in the U.S. and Tesco in the U.K. have also already signed on, while retailers in Germany and Japan are in the process.
It's certainly a big shift in Loblaws' business model, but hopefully they won't be the only company to make the move, considering how many companies have pledged to cut back on single-use plastics in the last year.
If you want to be some of the first to get in on Loop's program when it launches in Toronto, you can reserve a spot on their website.
