A company which learned that Singapore's recycling rates have "plateaued" around 11% is deploying over 100 refill machines for cleaning products around the city.
Reducing the cost of packaging has allowed the household product manufacturer Lam Soon to offer their Bio-Home line of goods at a 30% discount if filled up at the vending machine-style refill stations.
According to Lam Soon, in a report on the stations published in the Mothership, the national recycling rate in the city-state has plateaued at about 11% of waste—far from the government's goal of 70% by 2030.
"Upstream" solutions—this is, changes in the supply chain before things become waste—are needed to cross the plateau, and Lam Soon, which manufacturers a variety of biodegradable home products including laundry detergent, dishwasher liquid, and floor cleaner, felt stocking the refill stations rather than store shelves would allow them to eliminate the opportunity for bottles to even become waste in the first place.
Because there's no bottle or packaging, prices can be cut, while consumers can use their own, larger containers, over and over again. Indeed prices start at about SGD$4.80 per liter.
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To execute, Lam Soon invested $1 million into the hardware and tech startup Ecoworks, which designed the refill stations and is now working to install them across the city at over 100 locations. Already they can be found at 2 university campuses and a community center.
"Ecoworks has identified what is required for reuse to scale—convenient, standardized infrastructure in every neighborhood," the company said.
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