"Hijack" branded bottles and refill them, greatly reducing plastic waste

The sustainable development of plastic packaging has undergone a simple and ingenious new turning point, thanks to an innovative company in the UK, which is trying to disrupt the household cleaner market.

     It surpasses other tried and tested methods that have been rooted here for many years. This innovation is that the brand removes water and reformulates the product into a concentrated version to reduce the size and weight of containers throughout the supply chain. This method is now used in high-efficiency washing machine detergents.

     The brand also provides concentrated rehydration solutions that consumers can dilute with water. Using flexible packaging to fill the bag can further save weight. This is a strategy for products including household cleaners.

     This is the approach taken by the online retailer Splosh, a Welsh start-up in Newtown, founded in 2012, with a goal similar to other environmentally friendly companies: reducing the amount of plastic people use by providing concentrated refill bags for household necessities. So it is more friendly to the environment. Consumers can produce this product simply by adding water.

      The concentration of Splosh products is three to four times that of similar products, which can reduce the plastic packaging by three to four times; and, compared with similar bottles, the weight of the filling bag is 70% lighter. Splosh founder Angus Grahame said, One hand sanitizer filling bag can produce 1.5L ready-to-use product after dilution, which is equivalent to 6 bottles of 250ml product.

     Now Grahame has created a breakthrough for greater sustainability.

     Destructive method: "hijacking" competitors' bottles

    Splosh's new reuse/refill method makes things even more dramatic: it requires consumers to "hijack" competitors' bottles in order to reduce waste plastic to zero.

    Consumers will receive a filling bag in a corrugated box of the right size, which also contains instructions and a pressure-sensitive label that can be affixed to a reusable bottle. The consumer rinsed a used hand sanitizer bottle of another brand, affixed it with a Splosh pressure-sensitive label, and then appropriately diluted it with the specified amount of water according to the instructions.

    Splosh reports that its standard filling system that reuses its own brand bottles has saved more than 725,000 rigid bottles in the past few years. By "hijacking" mainstream brands of handwashing bottles, they expect to save even more.

     Grahame said: "Splosh is committed to saving 1 billion bottles. Through our unique refilling service, consumers can reduce plastic waste to zero. We have used a circular economy to disrupt the market, but we need to go further-"hijack" Big brand hand sanitizer bottles. Splosh is committed to eliminating plastic waste in any way possible. Everything we do is environmentally friendly."

    Will there be any problems if consumers reuse bottles of different specifications?

    Grahame responded: "We don't think so. The size of the'hijacked' bottle is actually irrelevant."

     The biggest challenge for this brand is to support this project through education, which can change consumer behavior.

     Grahame said in an interview: "I think, like all novel ideas, initial recognition is the biggest obstacle. We need to convince consumers that'hijacking' a bottle is faster and easier, and refilling is better than recycling. Easier."

     The filling bag can be recycled

     When these filling bags are stored, cleaned, and returned by consumers free of charge in the same shipping box where the refill was received, they can be recycled and made into useful products. Consumers are asked to hide their own mailing address and rewrite it as "Free Mail Splosh" on the shipping box.

     Grahame said that the "hijacking plan" is a test that will be promoted to other products if it works well. Next will be cleaners for the kitchen and bathroom.

     This plan is another initiative of the company. Splosh has developed what it claims is the world's first refillable toilet cleaner and the first shower gel made of refillable concentrate. The formulation of all Splosh products is environmentally friendly.