Tesco and Carrefour to pilot global waste-free shopping platform

Various retailers and FMCG giants including Coca-Cola will participate in the scheme, called Loop, which was unveiled at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The Loop platform will allow for containers to be collected from consumers before being cleaned and refilled for reuse. Those products unable to be reused will be recycled. 

TerraCycle, the business that developed Loop, has teamed up with global consumer brands such as Nestlé and PepsiCo to replace existing plastic packaging with aluminium and glass alternatives. 

Loop will be first rolled out by food retailer Carrefour in Paris in May. Tesco will trial the system in the UK “later in the year”. 

Speaking in Davos today, TerraCycle chief executive Tom Szaky said: “As a response to the global challenge in managing waste and the opportunity to improve consumers’ experience, a group of committed global brands, retailers, infrastructure companies, along with the World Economic Forum, have come together to create a new way to more responsibly consume products.

“Loop will not just eliminate the idea of packaging waste, but greatly improve the product experience and the convenience in how we shop.”

Tesco and Carrefour formed a strategic alliance in July, which was aimed at delivering “even lower prices” for both grocer’s customers.

TerraCycle was co-founded by Szaky and Jon Beyer in 2001.