RE: INTERVIEW
Braungart and McDonough’s consultancy firm MBDC helped Goodbaby transform its products into C2C
DA.AI Technology Co. Ltd (
DA.AI), Taiwan’s first non-profit product manufacturer, has made a blanket derived from dope dyed 100% post-consumer recycled polyester yarn. The Gray Eco Blanket’s colour comes by adding colour chips in the spinning process instead of the traditional dyeing process. Each blanket is made from 68 recycled PET bottles, equivalent to reducing 1.7 kg of CO2 emission, and saving 35.4 millilitres of oil and 6 litres of water. The recycled PET bottles used as the raw materials of blankets are collected, classified and cleaned by Tzu Chi Foundation’s volunteers.
Be Green Packaging LLC designs, develops, manufactures and distributes tree-free entirely compostable food containers such as bowls, plates, clamshells, and trays for the food service, deli, vegetable, meat, fish, and poultry industries. The company currently distributes the Bulrush food containers in 37 states and the UK.
Braungart uses the example of lifestyle company Puma to illustrate this point. This year the company unveiled its first range of biodegradable products which it showcased in a glass tank at one of its flagship stores. Its “InCycle” collection is made from either recyclable or biodegradable materials creating a closed-loop process making it officially “100% Cradle-to-Cradle Basic certified”. Puma selected biodegradable polymers, recycled polyester and organic cotton in order to eliminate pesticides, chemical fertilizers and other hazardous chemicals, it says. While the ultimate goal for Braungart would be for retailers only to stock closed loop products, such as InCycle, he is realistic of the scale of the challenge. “Don’t try to be perfect,” he advises adding “small steps are better than none.” “The more retailers stock and promote better products, the
Moreover, stocking greener products can increase the value proposition for the consumer, he argues. This is especially true in the growing LOHAS (lifestyles of health and sustainability) market segment “where the preference is greener, healthier products,” according to a report by sustainable management firm, Five Winds International. “Retailers that understand this growing consumer trend are either developing their own more sustainable private label brands or sourcing them from suppliers,” it found.
“Show one thing a month, for example a paper you can compost; a monthly C2C product which you could display in your store to show what the future looks like. Retailers have a responsibility to influence customers to make the right choice”
more consumers will buy and the more we will be profitable and the quicker we can change…The customer therefore becomes your change agent,” he says.
The incentive is clear for Braungart. Far
from having a negative effect on the companies implementing closed loop strategies; materials get cheaper, he believes. Between the first agreement between Braungart and McDonough’s consultancy firm, MBDC, and the first collection it took nine months for the products of one company, Goodbaby, to be transformed into C2C, according to the Professor.
Be holistical
There is no point introducing a solution after the problem has been dealt; the solution must be created at the beginning of the production process with the materials used to create the product, argues Braungart. Manufacturers are “optimising the wrong things instead of asking what the right thing to do is,” he says. If this isn’t corrected, “we will mostly spend our time repairing things,” argues Braungart. Condemning the UK’s decision to build 100 new publically funded incineration plants, Braungart compares such tactics to “rearranging the deckchairs of the titanic.”
20 RETAIL ENVIRONMENT | JUNE 2013
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