How many of you Michael Scott-The Office fans thought that paper was a dying industry? Think again on all those times last year you have had to make use of hygiene products like tissue roles, wipes etc. made of paper to keep yourself protected from COVID?

It proves that at least for a decade more, there are industries that cannot do without paper because it is a necessary raw material for their product. But it also opens up opportunity doors for remaining industries that can innovate their supply chains to go paperless.

Hello and welcome to weekly gupshup with The Circular Collective, I’m your host and dost Sreepriya Sridharan & I am Piyush Dhawan and we help you think out of the box of circular economy best practices from around the globe, through an audio experience

A decade ago reusable packaging was practiced in every household in India, especially with the introduction of Tupperwear.

Gone are the days as today single-use packaging has dominated our supply chains..and this single use family of convenience comes at a cost of depleting forest reserves and choking marine lives.

With the rise in popularity of e-commerce and doorstep deliveries in India, the use of paper as well as plastic packaging in boxes has gone up - a trend the large e-commerce players are trying to arrest.

This problem is so worth solving, that you may have noticed in the last couple of weeks we’ve had businesses like AmplePac and InfinityBox from India who are providing reusable packaging solutions in FMCG sector and food delivery sectors respectively. In case you haven’t heard those episodes, make a note now to listen to episode #31 & #38.

Since lockdowns have intensified, my orders for essentials through e-commerce apps have grown in quantum over the past few months. There are so many cardboard boxes at home that it makes me wonder how would it look like if I had the option to send back this packaging for reuse and probably save some trees from being cut as a bargain.

One such solution is offered by LimeLoop, they build sustainable shipping logistics for e-commerce brands.

Tune into the episode to dive deeper into their solution.

Probing Question : If we have the power to return and replace our e-commerce consignments, why then are we so far behind in returning and reusing the packaging that comes with it? Isn’t it worth solving?

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If you know of more cool examples around reusable packaging, then reach out to us on LinkedIn:

Sreepriya Sridharan | Circular Business Podcast;

Piyush Dhawan | The Circular Collective

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