Social responsibility in e-commerce or how Finns struggle with trash

The average consumer in Finland produces about 80 kg of waste per year. This is significantly less than in other European countries. For example, in France this figure is more than 200 kg. But it was the Finnish company that decided to pay close attention to this. They have developed a packaging method that is resistant to external influences, which can be repeatedly used in mailing.

RePack claim that their system will get rid of all the trash, which is usually associated with online shopping. In this case, it is not only about envelopes, packages and boxes that end users receive, but also a significant part of disposable packaging material used at all stages of transporting goods to the consumer.

We stumbled upon this project on the North European counterpart of kickstarter .

Benefits claimed by the developer:
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- resistance to external influences;

- production from recycled materials;

- ease, ease of use and mailing;

- A wide range of formats and designs, as well as the possibility of ordering an individual version;

- small dimensions in the folded state.



How it works?

The solution is a collapsible (collapsible) package that can be easily mailed.

- When buying from an online store that cooperates with RePack, the buyer can choose this type of packaging in the order options;

- The cost of the purchase is added from 5 to 8 euros, depending on the online store. This pledge includes the cost of the package itself and shipping costs;

- After receiving the goods, the buyer can send the packaging back. To do this, it is enough to clean it from the stickers of the online store, fold it and drop it into the nearest mailbox. The package already has all the necessary data and information that the shipment has been paid;

- Depending on the online store, the buyer is either returned a pledge or a certificate for an amount slightly higher than the pledge left (about 10 euros);

- Returned packaging is reused for shipment of goods.



Collaboration and recognition:

Some Finnish online stores are already collaborating with RePack. Among them: GlobeHope, Pikkulinnun and Varusteleka.
In 2014, RePack received the most prestigious design award in Finland: Fennia.

A kind of recognition is that the idea was copied by a student Yoochang Zhou, who introduced the idea of ​​a “packaging reuse system”. The idea was presented on the site dezeen.com. Representatives of the Finnish company drew attention to the fact that not only the principle of packaging was copied, but also the original name. The Royal College of Art, in which Zhou studied, reviewed the appeal of RePack representatives and recognized the student’s work as plagiarism.

Jonne Hellgren, managing director of RePack, said:

“We take this as a compliment, but at the same time we strive to show that our idea is original, and Zhou has nothing to do with us”

Video from Zhou, clearly demonstrating the principle of the use of packaging.

Expansion to other markets

Jonne also said that RePack plans to develop cooperation with companies that sell furniture, electronics and food products. In March of this year, a contract was concluded with the Dutch company DOCdata .