A press conference was held at the 49th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in January 2019 -- and the Loop Alliance was unveiled.

"Loop, in a way, is a reboot of the milkman," says Tom Szaky, founder and CEO, TerraCycle, in the video below. "My dream is for my kids to wake up in a world where waste doesn't exist."

Szaky explains, "Through Loop, consumers can now responsibly consume products in specially-designed durable, reusable or fully recyclable packaging made from materials like alloys, glass and engineered plastics. When a consumer returns the packaging, it is refilled, or the content is reused or recycled through groundbreaking technology."

A panel of experts discussed Loop at the WEF, and took part in the discussion, "How can we move to more sustainable consumption?" "We're offering an alternative to disposability - by shifting ownership from the consumer to the manufacturer," says Szaky. 

Moderated by Georg Schmitt, head of corporate affairs, World Economic Forum, the panelists were: Tom Szaky, founder and CEO, TerraCycle; David Taylor, chairman of the board and president and CEO, P&G; Ramon Laguarta, chairman and CEO, PepsiCo; James Rogers, founder and CEO, Appeal Sciences; and Jennifer Morgan, executive director, Greenpeace.

P&G's Taylor says during the conference, "This solution is exciting...and there are some challenges. We will have two initial tests, in New York and Paris. What we have to learn is -- is any change in consumer behavior required?

Taylor continues to explain Loop, saying, "We think it will be convenient and affordable for consumers to take charge of this, and give back the packaging so it can be sanitized and returned to them. This offers some amazing opportunities to eliminate waste in the environment and to delight the consumer...I do believe this is addressable, but we’re going to learn -- about the business model, and the consumer's reaction...from there we can pivot to find solutions that last. Because ultimately it will take many different solutions across many different avenues for us to address plastic in the environment." 

Watch the complete video below. 

Also See: Loop's First Partner Brands - In Beautiful, Refillable Packaging

Loop's Partners

Founding partners of the Loop Alliance are consumer product companies Procter & Gamble, Nestle, PepsiCo, Unilever, Mars Petcare, The Clorox Company, The Body Shop, Coca-Cola European Partners, Mondelēz International, Danone, Jacobs Douwe Egberts, Lesieur, BIC, Beiersdorf, RB, People Against Dirty, Nature's Path, Thousand Fell, Greenhouse, Grilliance, Burlap & Barrel Single Origin Spices, Reinberger Nut Butter, CoZie and Preserve.

Additional partners are leading food retailer Carrefour as the founding retailer, and the first to believe in Loop's model. Tesco will pilot Loop in the UK later in the year. Transportation company UPS and sustainable resource management company Suez have also signed on.