Approximately 36% of all plastics produced are used in packaging, approximately 85% of which ends up in landfills or as unregulated waste*. As one of the largest FMCG MNCs, Unilever wanted to proactively take responsibility for the impact of its business on the environment. The brand is committed towards making sustainable living commonplace and has pledged to remove more than 100,000 tonnes of plastic entirely, by 2025.

Unilever products reach 9 in 10 Indian households. With a population that’s equivalent to the sum of 12 of the largest countries, India has one of the world’s biggest plastic footprints*. It became more important than ever, for Unilever to develop a long-term strategy that would reimagine its plastic packaging and drive mass adoption of a sustainable packaging solution.

The solution needed to significantly impact Unilever’s global plastic reduction target for 2025, by reducing plastic consumption by over 50kgs per day.

*Source: unep.org

India is generating about 3.5 million tonnes of plastic waste annually and the per capita plastic waste generation has almost doubled over the last five years.

India’s packaging industry is the biggest consumer of plastics. A 2020 study on packaging in India projects a loss of almost $133 billion worth of plastic material value over the next decade due to unsustainable packaging. The study also suggests that interventions based on a circular economy have the potential to recover almost 75% of this projected loss value.*

With Smart Fill, we have implemented a circular economy approach – one in which resources are kept in use in a closed-loop system, rather than thrown away. This has helped Unilever to cut its dependence on virgin plastic, reuse old plastic, and advance towards the 2030 agenda for a more sustainable pattern of production.

*https://blog.burnsmcd.com/solving-indias-problem-with-plastic-waste

We sacrificed Unilever’s most valuable branding asset – its packaging.

We introduced Smart Fill, an in-store experience that encourages shoppers to use other brands’ plastic waste as Unilever packaging. Shoppers can Smart Fill and turn any empty container into packaging for products like Vim, Surf Excel, and Comfort.

Creative solution harnessed two cultural nuances that stem from the resourcefulness mindset of Indian shoppers.

1. Culture of thrift. Unlike West, trade-offs are expected with every action. People carry bags to supermarkets to avoid carry bag charges. It isn’t that they cannot afford 7¢ carry bag on a $70 bill, but they dislike wastefulness.

2. Cultural practice of repurposing used packaging like cookie tins as sewing kits, soda bottles as spray bottles.

Our strategy was to tap this resourcefulness and sense of thrift to seamlessly fit into the existing shopper journey, without sacrificing time and effort.

We chose sustainability over branding.

Awareness about plastic pollution is at its peak, due to various recycling drives, clean-ups, waste segregation, and sustainability pushes. But only 9% of plastic waste gets recycled and viable alternatives are few and far apart.

Our strategy needed to turn ‘awareness but inaction’ into ‘actions that propel awareness’.

Convincing consumers to adapt to a new sustainable alternative is a challenge. We explored consumers’ stance towards plastic-free alternatives and identified five cohorts.

1.Eco Warriors: Already leading sustainable lifestyles (5%)

2.Convenience Seekers: Awaiting effective alternatives (10%)

3.Value Seekers: Need value exchange to switch (20%)

4.Value Chasers: Prioritize value over sustainability (30%)

5.Unawares: Completely unaware (35%)

It wasn’t the Eco Warriors and Convenience Seekers we needed to target, it was the Value Seekers and Value Chasers.

Our approach balanced value and sustainability drivers to inspire behavioural change leading to sustainable consumption.

Offers were communicated at multiple touchpoints, directing shoppers towards Smart Fill station.

When: During the existing shopper journey.

Where: Adjacent to home care product aisles in the store.

Shoppers are redirected from these aisles to the Smart Fill station.

How:

1.Bring any empty bottle to the store e.g. soda/other brands/Unilever

2.Place it under the dispenser

3.Select the desired product and quantity

4.Paste the barcode on the refilled bottle

5. Check it out alongside other products

Why: It appeals to the consumers’ sense of resourcefulness and is extremely easy to operate. They save not only on packaging costs, but by purchasing smaller amounts.

20% discount makes Smart Filling more cost-effective than packaged products.

Leveraging an existing practice makes it easier to get shoppers to carry their own bottles.

Each station costs $2,597. With this, we aim to introduce 10 new Smart Fill stations every month.

Forget R&D, forget products, forget the brand itself. The answer lay with the Indian shopper’s resourcefulness mindset.

Smart Fill has changed Indian shopper behaviour and got people to switch to a sustainable packaging alternative, even if they don’t care about the environment.

Owing to the strong cultural nuance, the model is bound to only work in countries like India. Given the country’s population, it’s as effective as implementing it in 12 of the world’s largest countries.

We optimised the supply chain by eliminating the processes of manufacturing new plastic packaging and labels.

- 150 Litres refilled every hour

- 85% repeat purchases

- Earned PR worth USD1.5 MM

- 57.2 Kg/day plastic reduction

- 50% Reduction in India’s plastic pollution forecasted for 2025

- Reached ~ 349 MM consumers

With Smart Fill, we have implemented a circular economy approach. This has helped Unilever to cut its dependence on virgin plastic, reuse old plastic and advance towards the 2030 agenda for a more sustainable pattern of production.