This Startup Aims To Eliminate 1 Million Plastic Bottles In 2022 By Refilling Homecare Liquids

The best way to fight the growing menace of plastic waste is to follow RRR - Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

Instead of throwing them away, single-use plastic items, including PET bottles and carry bags, can be used again, in one form or other, thus eliminating a large chunk that would otherwise end up in landfills and water bodies.

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Practicing this will keep the environment cleaner and also help in reducing the household budget.

Don't buy new packets. Just refill

This is exactly what Refillable Store, a young startup in Mumbai has set out to do.

Their idea is simple - reduce wastage from plastic packaging by allowing users to refill their everyday homecare items in their existing bottles or other containers at their doorsteps.

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Conceived in 2019 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic by Rahul Batra, Lokesh Sambhwani, and Purav Desai, Refillable has set an ambitious target of eliminating one million single-use bottles by the end of 2020 just by offering refills.

"We had known each other since our college days. During COVID-19, when there was a sudden increase the demand for homecare liquids like toilet cleaners, floor cleaners, detergents, dish wash, hand wash, sanitiser etc. Because of this increase in consumption, the subsequent use of single-use plastic also shot up and there was no mechanism to collect and recycle them. We wanted to do something to reduce this plastic wastage. That is how the idea of Refillable came up," Rahul Batra, one of the co-founders of Refillable told Indiatimes.

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India is one of the biggest plastic waste generators, and in 2019 the country was creating close to 26,000 tonnes of plastic waste every day, out of which around 40 per cent are from the packaging.

The trio was convinced that if they could deliver these items to customers' doorsteps, they would be able to bring down the amount of plastic that goes to waste every day.

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Homecare liquids refilled at doorsteps

To do this, they modified a pick-up truck and fitted it with containers and dispersers, which the customer could order through their website or WhatsApp and will be delivered within 48 hours.

"We go door-to-door, encouraging customers to bring their own bottles and other containers, be it old PET bottles or ketchup bottles lying unused at home and refill their homecare liquids. Other than the convenience of doorstep delivery, our products are 10-20% cheaper than the same items available in packets in the market," Batra said.

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While refilling is not a new concept and has been practiced across the world, it has not yet caught up in India on a scale that can create an impact.

Refillable currently serves more than 2000 customers on a monthly basis in Mumbai alone and recently started its operations in Bengaluru. The startup is also eyeing expanding its reach to four more cities in the near future.

Refillable

They rely heavily on social media, and word-of-mouth publicity to spread their message and reach more customers.

"Other than this, we also do society demos, where we park our refill truck at a residential society for 4-6 hours and encourage everyone to try our service once. The feedback has been very positive," he said.

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How they are helping brands

Batra also said that some of the top names quickly embraced their idea in FMCG as it helped them meet their reduce and recycle target for 2025.

"The brands we have approached so far have been more than happy to join hands with us since we are taking the same product they already have in the market directly to the customer. Other than this, we also help them meet their 2025 recycling target. Though the companies have been given a target to switch entirely to reusable or recyclable plastics for packaging, there are not many options in front of them. We act as a solution for these companies to meet their 2025 target," he said.

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