Win Marks End of Successful Wrap Trial
22 November 2010
The project was funded by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) and initially trialled in five Asda stores. The retailer is now in discussions with a leading detergent brand to roll the trial out to more stores and test other liquid products.
The self-dispensing technology has been developed and part-funded by eziserv and the project has been managed by Oakdene Hollins. The fabric conditioner is piped from 1,000 litre, reusable containers from back-of-store via overhead pipes to a dispensing point in the retail aisle.
It allows customers to purchase concentrated fabric conditioner in reusable pouches that can be refilled up to ten times, saving money and packaging waste with each refill.
As well as offering customer savings, the new technology offers retailers significant business benefits including large packaging and carbon impact reduction across the entire supply chain. It also has the potential to free up in-store sales space and offer transportation savings.
The project recently won Innovation of the Year at the UK Packaging Awards (3 November). It was also highly commended in two other categories: Sustainable Pack of the Year and Flexible Pack of the Year.
Richard Swannell, director of retail at WRAP, said the success of the trial was the perfect example of how partnerships with business can deliver real benefits to consumers and industry:
“This shows how we can work together, pool expertise and demonstrate the viability of new technology before passing the baton on to business to take forward.
“We are also talking to others in the retail sector about the opportunities for reusable packaging in relation to products ranging from laundry products to paint to deliver further cost and environmental benefits.”
Julian Walker-Palin, head of corporate sustainability at Asda, said: “We're very proud of this trial and pleased it's had recognition at the UK Packaging Awards. Customer feedback has been really positive and we have taken lots of learnings which we will utilise in future projects.
“We will now review all the feedback and everything we have learnt to feed into our sustainability strategy. I'm confident we will see refillable containers in our stores again in the future."
