Question

The objective is to suggest an innovative idea that will reduce plastic waste generated at any of the touch-points in the entire product life-cycle. The idea needs to be feasible in terms of implementation and should be sustainable once implemented.

The suggested idea should take into account the following:-

 Plastic waste reduction by using the 3R model

1) Reduce- How to reduce the plastic usage in the first place

2) Recycle/Reuse- How to recycle/reuse the plastic waste that is generated at any point in the entire value chain

 Below are the phases of the Product Life-cycle broadly classified into the following three categories and their corresponding reasons for plastic waste generation (below is an indicative list and not an exhaustive one)-

1) Procurement & Production- Plastic waste is generated during the procurement phase due to packing material of the raw material etc. Plastic waste generated during the production phase is due to quality control rejections etc

2) Distribution and Supply chain- Plastic waste is generated due to obsolete finished goods on account of forecast changes/ expiry of shelf life, logistics related reasons etc.

3) Sales/Consumer Touch Point- Plastic waste is generated due to disposal of packaging material as well as the actual product packaging after product is consumed (shampoo bottles, sachets etc)

 Market- L’Oréal India

 Sustainable Implementation- Your idea should be implementable and should include a 5 year roadmap in terms of implementation, costing and impact. The idea should be sustainable over a longer period of time

 Budget- You have no constraints in terms of budget but do keep in mind the long-term profitability of the idea

Answer 1

Plastic waste has been a big burden on the environment and it's disposal is an even bigger problem. Every other industry is trying to limit its plastic waste and making efforts to build a sustainable and environment friendly product.

so to reduce and reuse plastic waste one way to cut plastic is at the Sales/Consumer Touch Point where vending machines can be installed and people can bring old shampoo bottles to reuse them or their own containers from home and fill in shampoo in them. How ever much they want. This will be cheaper to the consumer and also cut the cost of the company by reducing environmental plastic waste. Their is only a one time installation cost of the machine and the finished product that is the shampoo can be refilled in the machines as and when required.

Distribution and Supply chain- also saves this step is eliminated as there won't be any expired plastic product. The old product will just be removed from the machine if expired.