Big Ideas: “How we can eliminate single use packaging” with Mike Newman, CEO of Returnity…

Companies need to empower their supply chain and purchasing teams to adopt innovative new packaging models.

Switching from cardboard and poly mailer bags to reusable packaging leads to a significant reduction in natural resource consumption. More fundamentally, it helps reinforce the necessary move away from a single-use to a circular economy.

Returnity is solving for the increased focus on circular shipping models, consumer attention to sustainability, and brands sensitivity to a differentiated customer experience. We will displace the use of over 1 million cardboard boxes and poly mailer bags in 2019 — and 10 million+ in 2020.

Everybody loves the convenience of ecommerce — and everybody loves complaining about the mountains of shipping packaging it creates. In that tension is our opportunity: eliminating single-use packaging that is expensive, cumbersome, and bad for the planet. We’ve done that by developing light, durable, easy-to-use bags and boxes to replace cardboard... See more

Convenience always comes at a cost. If one impact of the switch to reusable packaging is the perception that online shopping can be guilt-free, it might encourage a move away from bulk buying.