Through brands offering refillable products, and retailers and services handling the logistic of refills, this format is expanding across all industries, with the UK, France and the Netherlands at the forefront of this innovation.
Increasingly, consumer lifestyles and purchasing decisions are shaped by environmental concerns. In 2022, the big focus remains on climate action, with consumers taking action on the products they purchase, as concerns over the climate emergency escalate.
Consumers say they want to make a difference to the world. When it comes to packaging, they are preferring brands with a strong sustainable offering.
With over-packaging increasingly being a deterrent to purchase, reuse and refill systems, which appear to offer a relatively easy way to reduce packaging consumption and waste, are expected to become more popular in Europe in the years to come.
More European consumers consider refillable/reusable packaging to be “sustainable or better for the environment” than consumers in other regions.
This indicates potential for refill and reusable packaging, particularly among Millennials and Gen Z, who are the consumers most influenced by climate impact and who are expecting to continue to see their incomes rise.
The Euromonitor International lifestyle survey in 2021 has suggested virtually 4 billion packaging units were produced in 2021.
Key themes shaping refill and reuse packaging in Western Europe are
Convenience is key to gaining consumer buy-in, and once achieved can also drive loyalty, as reusable schemes encourage customers to stay with a brand once they have started using its reusables, whether refills and returns are at home or in store.
Convenience: Read more
Refill pouches offer both convenience and hygiene. Pouches represent a tangible and immediate solution to reduce plastic packaging and waste especially when Brands offer greater concentrates of fluid – less water used and fewer packs in transit.
They are also a convenient and hygienic way for consumers to take on the reuse/refill practice, in comparison to other schemes, such as refilling in store, which requires consumers to bring their empty containers to the stores before transferring the product into them. How many times have you forgotten to take your bags for life to the supermarket and then bought even more?
In addition, to ensure circularity and increase the sustainability gain offered by pouches, many brands are offering the option to recycle their pouches through returning them or using a recycling company, such as Terracycle.
The benefits however maybe diluted when considering home delivery services.
Premium Brand Image-smart design, and materials that feel luxurious can also allow brands to use refillable packaging as a route to premiumization and margin improvement, particularly within beauty and personal care.
However, it is critical Brands and retailers also consider the total carbon footprint impact of the materials used, the Life Cycle Assessments of the manufacturing processes and the likely reuse by consumers especially when switching to intensive carbon emitting material solutions like metal and glass.
Concentrated formulas offer opportunities for smaller packaging, more control over usage of the product and preventing waste, particularly within home care products.
Concentrated formulas: Read more
Concentrated refill formulations have been gaining popularity in recent years in industries such as home care, drinks and beauty. Concentrated refills are in most cases to be diluted in water at home in existing bottles or packaging, thus reusing existing bottles. Which in turn offer less waste, due to the use of reusable packaging. Further sustainable gains are seen in terms of reduced plastic packaging and lower transportation emissions, due to their smaller size and weight.
In many cases, manufacturers are marketing on cost savings related to higher concentration.
Given the dynamic growth of e-commerce across FMCG industries, accelerated by the pandemic, concentrated refill solutions could further benefit due to their being lighter weight.
Technology can support manufacturers in the key focus areas of convenience, hygiene, premiumization and affordability, from app-facilitated subscription services to improving traceability and transparency.
Technology: Find out more
Digital transformation is also driving the consumer experience of refill concepts
European consumer demand for instore shopping features is on the rise, with more wanting quick information and fast check-out in store.
In recent years, the development of localization apps has made reusables more accessible. Enabling consumers to find nearby refill stations has supported the expansion of the concept to more local stores, and the rise of on-the-go beverage refill stations.
More focus on the need to improve operational efficiency in-store, which is a large component of the customer experience.
This includes smart refill stations and ease of refill, as well as mobile apps that allow the consumer to manage the whole refill process, including payment.
Mobile app technologies are also making refill more accessible Thanks to the development of dedicated apps, such as Refill in the UK, users can easily find local refill stations with food, drinks, beauty and cleaning products, as well as for on-the-go consumption. The Refill app makes refilling and reusing more accessible, while it also tracks users’ sustainable impact in terms of packaging waste and carbon saved.
Hygiene-bring-your-own refillable schemes offer customers the benefits of using their own containers and are particularly relevant for the food industry; however, hygiene remains key for manufacturer-produced refillable packaging.
All of this of course relies upon the majority if not all consumers buy-in to a different way of life.
In France, for instance, a bill was passed in April 2021 that will require supermarkets with a storefront larger than 400 sq m to dedicate 20% of their space to food refill stations by 2030.
A further key challenge for companies will be to ensure affordability in the long term, as price is a key criterion in recruiting refill users and maintaining the habit.
While some consumers are willing to pay a premium, for many it is just not affordable. Consumers must weigh up their desire to do better against their ability to pay for it.
Whilst refillable and reusable packaging would appear to be one of the ways forward and especially when packaging can also be reduced, reused, recycled, energy can be recovered, and plastic materials can be taxed.
Businesses should therefore conduct full Life Cycle Analysis and identify CO2e values for every initiative and where re-use and refillable is concerned it should be clearly stated the numer of circular trips are required when compared with a single use packaging used today.
The Global pressing need is to reduce carbon emissions to confirm the best possible outcome for Profit, Planet and People.
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