Pure Beauty

Tesco rolls out biggest ever in-store refillable scheme with Loop, beauty brands take advantage

By Becky Bargh | Published: 13-Sep-2021

New service hits 10 UK stores today – and these are the beauty brands signing up

A year after rolling out its refillable service for consumer products in collaboration with Loop, UK supermarket powerhouse Tesco has brought its partnership in-store to ten major UK outlets.

Upon Loop’s initial launch in the UK with Tesco last year, beauty brands were among the first category to take advantage of the new eco-shopping method with the company’s at-home collection service.

Nivea, Ren, Unilever’s Love Beauty and Planet, Molton Brown and Bulldog Skincare were some of the first brands to sign up to the service, which allowed customers to have their empties collected at home and refilled by the brand’s manufacturer.

Beauty brands taking the plunge with Tesco’s new in-store programme include Alberto Balsam, Bulldog Skincare, Carex, Simple and Radox.

Together with other consumer products, from brands such as Heinz, Finish, Coca Cola and Persil, 88 product packs – including 35 Tesco own-brand skus – can be returned in-store, before being cleaned and refilled by the brand’s manufacturer.

During the course of the roll-out to bricks-and-mortar, Tom Szaky, Loop’s founder, and expert on the world’s global recycling systems, said that Loop’s online platform will eventually “sunset” with the aim of integrating Loop in-store completely.

“The consumer reaction to Loop in these first Tesco stores will prove pivotal in refining the Loop offering and ultimately we hope to scale reuse across more stores and the number of product lines available,” said Tzaky.

“Tesco is the perfect partner to bring Loop to retail in the UK due to its commitment to sustainability, in combating plastics waste and in its operational scale as the UK’s biggest grocery retailer.”

Sustainability shines

Bulldog is among the first beauty brands to join Tesco's in-store take back service with Loop

Bulldog is among the first beauty brands to join Tesco's in-store take back service with Loop

To shop the refillable products, customers can visit the Loop fixture at Tesco destinations and drop their empties back off at the installation.

A deposit, starting at 20p, will be charged for the products when purchasing, and refunded once the item has been returned.

“We are determined to tackle plastic waste and one of the ways we can help is by improving reuse options available to customers,” said Ken Murphy, Tesco’s Group CEO.

“Bringing Loop to our stores is a significant milestone in this journey.

“With 88 everyday products available, we’re giving customers a wide range of options and we’ll learn as much as we can from this to inform our future packaging plans.”

Senior Executives at Tesco called on the government during a press conference for a national recycling scheme and said that more intervention needs to come from MPs in order to tackle the waste “crisis”.

They also encouraged competitors to adopt similar technologies in order to tackle the world’s problem with waste – something that has been taken on board.

In October 2020, Asda entered a partnership with Unilever to launch Europe’s largest refill trial at its relaunched sustainability store in Leeds, UK.

At the space, eco-conscious consumers can refill their Radox shower gel, Simple liquid handwash and Alberto Balsam shampoo and conditioner.

The refillable stations are powered by Beauty Kitchen’s technology.

Tesco stores in England that are rolling out Loop’s programme today include: Milton Keynes Kingston, Northampton South, Cambridge Newmarket Road, Wellingborough, Milton Keynes Wolverton, Evesham, Leicester Hamilton, Stratford-upon-Avon, Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Loughborough Rushes.

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