It’s now more apparent than ever that the conveniences of plastic packaging are being outweighed by the environmental impact of the problematic material. Ramping up recycling efforts and minimizing one-time-use plastics are critical to reducing plastic pollution, so Nivea is testing a new kiosk that refills soap containers several times before they’re sent off for recycling.
As important as recycling efforts are to reducing waste and pollution, it’s still a time-consuming and energy-hungry process. It’s why reuse is always promoted alongside reduce and recycle: why grind up an empty plastic bottle and send it back through the entire manufacturing process again when it can simply be refilled? Beiersdorf, the Germany-based manufacturer of skincare products, is hoping that users of its Nivea shower gel products will feel more encouraged to reuse the product’s packaging with an easy-to-use refill station currently being tested in the drogerie markt chain of retail stores.
Using the kiosks sounds easy enough. Consumers start with an empty plastic Nivea bottle that’s filled by the machine—to introduce and familiarize them with the entire process—and a small label is printed out that can be adhered to the bottle for payment purposes.
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