Upgrade Your Unpacking
Introduce the Finnish company ― RePack ♻️
What you will get from this article:
- What is RePack and its value propositions
- An overview of the global packaging problem
- Linear Economy & Circular Economy
What is RePack?
RePack is a Finland-based company that provides returnable and reusable packaging services for the customers; implements the circular economy specifically in the field of E-commerce. RePack has received multiple rewards internationally and is now widely accepted in the European market. Before making a further connection between RePack and Circular Economy, a brief overview of the global packaging issue will provide a better insight into the relationship.
Global Packaging Issue
The significant improvement of the Internet, online payments, and global delivery systems have made online shopping a booming industry that is becoming a preferred mode of consumption by customers all over the world. And the phenomenon of excessive packaging has occurred accordingly. Packaging materials used for online shopping are usually several times more than that of normal packaging; including bubble bags, wood cartons, tapes, glue, etc. These shipping cartons require an immense amount of one-time use items that will be discarded upon reaching the customers. Thus, creating a significant waste of resources.
Circular/ Linear Economy
The definition of circular economy varies across different sectors and industries. Definition by SociSDG stated that “Going circular refers to the necessary change from our current take-make-waste linear economy to a borrow-use-return circular economy.”
RePack has embraced the spirit of the circular economy by utilizing the returnable and reusable packaging service that reduces the CO2 emission along with the packaging wastes. It also gathers collective efforts from both E-commerce stores and customers to further approach the excessive packaging problem.
The RePack Cycle
RePack has established partnerships with 40+ E-commerce web stores, delivering packages with three adjustable sizes to these stores. The reusable packages are designed in the way that they can be folded in letter size when empty and are made of durable and 100% recycled materials that can at least be used for 20 cycles.
The RePack Cycle is simple and straightforward. Up to this point, the packaging itself can reduce more than 80% CO2 emission due to the recyclable materials used, 95% return rate of the RePack’s products, and 96% reduction of the unnecessary packaging wastes (RePack, 2018).
Conclusion
Even though RePack can be seen as a market-driven environmental initiative that has successfully turned the environment into a business opportunity; there are still a few more concerns regarding future development.
For example, it requires an in-depth investigation into whether the business model of RePack works on a larger scale for most products; whether the environmental benefits of utilizing RePack will outweigh the pollutions of shipping used products back to manufacturers, to name but a few. Nevertheless, the success story of RePack has motivated more and more companies in different regions to work toward the same goal of addressing excessive packaging in the field of E-commerce through multiple means. Further, directly and indirectly, making the 2030 SDGs more approachable.
