UK organic grocery business Abel & Cole is trialling a refill scheme, claimed to be the first of its kind for an online retailer.
The trial – named Club Zero – will remove single use packaging from a selection of pantry items and deliver them instead in returnable, reusable pots.
For over 30 years Abel & Cole has sourced organic, wild and foraged products, delivering them in reusable cardboard boxes. This, the company, says has saved approximately 55 million single use plastic bags from landfill and week on week it reduces single use packaging waste by 88%, in comparison to an average supermarket shop.
In 2019 Abel & Cole further strengthened its sustainability credentials when it certified as a B Corp. Club Zero, it says, is the next step in its journey.
Club Zero members will be able to order staple pantry items in fully reusable, returnable pots, nicknamed ‘VIPs’ – Very Important Pots. These ‘VIPs’ will then be collected the following week, to be reused over and again.
These ‘VIPs’ are made of plastic – but, crucially, multi-use plastic. These VIPs are made of Polypropylene, or PP, which can be widely and easily recycled across the UK, when pots finally comes out of the reuse system.
The service will open all Abel & Cole customers by the end of February. Managing director, Hannah Shipton, said: “People have become increasingly aware of climate change and we have witnessed a huge growth in the appetite for sustainable products and ways to shop. I hope Club Zero helps anyone looking to cut down on single use packaging, particularly those without the ability to get to a zero waste refill shop or those not wanting to jump in the car to get to one (undoing their intention!).”
Specialist zero waste consultants, Unpackaged, worked with Abel & Cole to develop the trial. Catherine Conway, the founder of Unpackaged said: “Abel & Cole is taking a bold step in helping their customers drastically reduce packaging, which is the kind of leadership we need to see from business to help us out of the global plastic packaging crisis we face.”