Return & Refill Revolution: 5 Industries Creating Local Circular Economies

The return and refill revolution is here! We’ve been noticing that more and more businesses are creating local circular economies by enabling the return and refilling of their product’s packaging, from glass milk bottles to cleaning product pouches to bamboo makeup cases. We unpack (and then repack) all the ones we could find.

For a long time, most companies have expected the consumer to simply dispose of their product’s packaging once they’re done with it, but, with the plastic pollution and climate crises being brought to the fore, the focus is changing, with those purchasing products expecting more sustainable practices from the businesses supplying them.

And the most sustainable option is not recyclable packaging or plant-based plastics we can compost, but containers that can be returned and refilled, which creates a circular economy. This way, no new resources, such as water, energy, land, and soil, need to be used to continuously create more packaging.

You are only getting the product you are paying for and nothing else, which is exactly how we like it.

And most of these can be ordered online and delivered straight to your door, meaning those in areas where there are no bulk stores they can physically go to to refill it themselves aren’t left out and most of the time it is actually more eco-friendly to buy online and get items delivered. You can read more on this here.

Keeping the return and refill scheme local, keeps it eco-friendly by reducing transport costs associated with sending the packaging or container back for refill, as well as sending it to you. This also means you are supporting a small local business that hopefully carries out other sustainable practices like using local ingredients, ethical sourcing, and reducing its waste in all areas.

The number of companies offering return and refill is on the increase, with it starting to encompass a range of industries, particularly those selling cleaning products and beauty products like makeup. We share all the small business we have come across so far that are creating a local circular economy for their products.

1. Cleaning products refills

A number of companies are returning and refilling the bottles or pouches that cleaning products like everyday cleaner, laundry powder or liquid, and hand wash come in.

Happi Earth has designed the pouches its laundry liquid comes in to be sent back to Happi, sterilised and refilled to eliminate packaging. They are made from kraft paper with a thin plastic lining to prevent leakage. In addition, its laundry liquid is super concentrated (most laundry liquids contain 90% water!), with one pouch holding a year's worth, so you are pretty much buying in bulk.

And, Zero Co, an Australian start-up on a mission to eliminate single-use plastic packaging from every Australian kitchen, laundry and bathroom, recently successfully funded its carbon neutral, circular delivery system for planet-friendly home cleaning and personal care items, including laundry liquid, stain remover, dishwashing liquid, dishwasher tablets, hand soap, body wash, multi-purpose cleaner, bathroom/shower cleaner, toilet cleaner, and air freshener.

Zero Co’s goal is to remove 1 million single-use plastic bottles from the planet in its first year of operations. It reached its Kickstarter goal in 2019 and is now available.

Koh offers a refillable home cleaning kit that comes with a universal cleaner that can be used on most surfaces around your home, including: kitchen benches and table tops, greasy ovens and stovetops, bathroom tiles and shower screens, mirrors and windows, and most floor types including wooden floorboards, laminates and tiles.

This simplifies eco-friendly home cleaning completely! And its cleaner contains no harsh chemicals, fumes or fragrances. It is eco-certified by Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA) and certified by the National Asthma Council Australia’s Sensitive Choice™ program as being Allergy friendly and approved.

You can get Koh’s Universal Cleaner in a 4 litre refill box and its Dish Spray in a 1.5 litre refill pouch.

In the UK, Bower Collective provides a huge range of home and personal care products in reusable packaging. Its products are either plastic-free or arrive in its refill pouches, which are free to return in the provided pre-paid envelope for reuse and recycling. These are currently mostly recycled, but it is developing a new process that will allow it to refill and reuse the pouches at scale.

There are no similar return and refill programs by an ethical company we can find in the US/CAN (if you know of one let us know!), however refills pouches, which use less plastic than a rigid bottle and takes less energy to produce, can be bought for these cleaning products: Method dish soap, laundry detergent, and hand wash, J.R. Watkins hand soap, and Puracy stain remover, hand soap, body wash, shampoo and conditioner, and dish soap.

Use one of these products? Maybe contact the company and enquire about returning the refill pouch for reuse?

While, you can’t send the bottles its cleaning products come in back to Common Good, they do have refill stations in the US and Canada where you can take your bottle and refill it.

Or you could buy natural personal care and household products in bulk, like 2 litre or 4 litre boxes of ATTITUDE, and set up a refill station in your own home.

2. Makeup and bathroom product refills

The makeup and beauty industry is another industry that is quickly getting on board with refilling products instead of repeatedly sending out single-use, disposable packaging.

Eco Minerals (AU) natural mineral makeup, which is made in Byron Bay in Australia, provides refill sachets made of paper to fill its 5g foundation sifter jars.

Refillable lipstick, mascara, concealer, foundation, blush, eye shadow are all available from Zao (UK), which offers refills for its bamboo cases.

Canadian-made, vegan beauty brand Elate Cosmetics (AU here and US/CAN here) offers refills for its beautifully made bamboo cases, for instance for its creme revealer concealer, which comes in five different tones, pressed powders, eye shadows, and cheek colours.

In addition, you can create your own capsules of eyeshadows and pressed powder/cheek powders using its bamboo palettes to minimise waste. The palette has a customisable magnetic backing so you can buy only the colours you want and design your powder layout as you please. And it is refillable.

The company’s refills come in a seed paper envelope, which can be planted to grow into wildflowers when the season is right. Such a nice touch!

Similarly, Pure Anada (US/CAN) has a reusable magnetic compact that can be used for pressed mineral eye colour pans, pressed sheer matte foundation pans, and pressed mineral cheek colour pans, which can be bought as refills.

In addition, there are bathroom products you can buy refills for. FAIR SQUARED cosmetics (UK) are available in returnable glass jars and bottles. They can be taken back to the shop where you bought them or sent back to the company to be cleaned and refilled. Customers sending them back get a voucher in return and retailers taking part in the system get a refund.

Bower Collective (UK) provides body wash, shampoo and conditioner, hand sanitiser, and hand wash refills, including products for kids bath time and kids haircare, in returnable packaging. These are returned in a provided pre-paid envelope and are currently mostly recycled, but it is developing a new process that will allow it to refill and reuse the pouches at scale.

Zero Co has added personal care products to its range, so you can now order shampoo, conditioner, moisturiser and deodorant in returnable refillable pouches together with your cleaning products.

You can get reusable deodorant applicators that you can buy deodorant refills for like those from Wild Natural Deodorant (UK).

And a range of refillable palm-oil free skincare in minimalist glass packaging has been launched by Biome Eco Stores (AU).

And, with flosses like The Eco Floss (AU), Georganics Natural Floss (UK), Faithful To Nature Biodegradable Dental Floss (South Africa) and Dental Lace (US/CAN), you can buy a refill for your glass floss container rather than getting a new container every time you need more floss.

3. Takeaway food and drinks return and reuse

Not everyone is willing to carry around their own container for takeaway food and drinks, so Returnr provides cafes and restaurants with reusable alternatives to plastic-single use takeaway containers and plastic-lined takeaway cups that customers can take their food and drinks away in and then return to the cafe or restaurant.

They are borrowed for a deposit, which is returned when the stainless steel tub or coffee cup is given back or just get it refilled. At the moment, most Returnr locations are in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, and Tasmania, but it is spreading quickly. They are even an option on online delivery platform Deliveroo for home delivery!

Fresh Bowl is a vending machine with a difference - you get a nutritious meal in a glass jar that you can return via the vending machine for credit. You’ll only find it in New York so far.

Cup Exchange is eliminating single-use coffee cups around Australia, with a few other venues in other places around the globe. Unwanted reusable coffee cups and mugs are donated to cafes or coffee shops, which have these available for customers to use as an alternative to single-use cups.

Where this is different from your usual cup library is you can return that same cup or any other cup/s to a participating cafe or coffee shop to keep them circulating.

4. Groceries products in returnable packaging

Returnable glass milk bottles are back! In Australia, Schulz Organic Dairy started selling its milk in reusable glass bottles at farmer’s markets in late 2017 after its regular customers started requesting it (which shows that customers asking for what they want works!) and they are now available in retailers as well due to high demand and a successful crowdfunding campaign. You can find a bottle near you here.

There has been a resurgence of the old milkman model in England and some places even have milk vending machines from which milk bottles can be refilled. In the US, several dairies collect, clean, and reuse their glass milk jugs, including Garry’s Meadow and Lady Lane Farm in Oregon, Danzeisen Dairy in Arizona, and Twin Brook Creamery in Washington. You can buy their products directly at the dairy or at some grocery stores that also accept the returned bottles.

Why stop at milk? Refillable wine bottles? Sure! In Melbourne, you can return for reuse or refill wine bottles at Rewine’s Brunswick store and at Queen Victoria Market. And in Fitzroy, Glou exclusively serves wine on tap to have there and to takeaway, while near South Melbourne Market, Swords Select Wine & Beer offers refillable 1 litre wine bottles.

You can also use beer growlers to refill beer or cider. More and more breweries and craft beer stores all over the world are making these available (we have a few listed on our map of where to shop zero waste in Australia). We’ve also seen return and refill kombucha stations.

And of course bulk food stores enable the return and refill of all sorts of groceries as well as cleaning and bathroom products.

At Australia’s Harris Farm Markets, you can return Harris Farm Soup jars and Single Herd Milk bottles for sterilisation and reuse and you can also get Single Herd Milk on tap at certain stores.

If you’re looking for online groceries that come in returnable, refillable containers, Unpackaged Eco delivers everyday items without any single-use plastic, with all items coming in reusable, refillable and durable packaging which it collects, cleans, and reuses.

When buying from any small local provider, whether it be food or beauty and bathroom products, it is always worth asking if they would take the packaging back for reuse. For example, at our local farmer’s market where we often shop, we are able to return jam jars for reuse and we only found this out by asking. Even if they say no, it might get them thinking about it!

5. Reusing postal packaging

Postal packaging can be reused but it takes effort to store it or get it to someone who will use it if you don’t need it and it will most likely only be reused a few times. Repack is solving this issue by providing a reusable and returnable packaging service.

Its reusable bags are designed to be folded down into the size of a letter so they can be returned via a postbox anywhere in the world once done with. The postage fee is covered by Repack and the bags, which come in three sizes, are made of durable and recycled materials so they can be checked, cleaned, and redistributed after being returned.

We’re hoping return and refill in reusables keeps on expanding into more industries! Its a great way to enable more people to obtain zero waste products and groceries. If you think a local business near you could easily change its business model to enable reuse instead of single-use, why not suggest it to them and provide examples of how it can be done? Often it benefits business as well as the planet.

Have you come across any other examples of companies offering return and refill? Let us know in the comments!

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