Returnable Packaging for Sustainable Beauty

Zerooo is a closed-loop system for cosmetics and drugstore products, developed by the Hamburg-based start-up Sea Me. Since its foundation in 2022, its mission has been to make it easier for cosmetics and drugstore brands to adopt reusable packaging. With innovative packaging solutions and a suitable infrastructure, it aims to create closed material and resource cycles.

Used shampoo bottle being returned at the reverse vending machine — The system for reusable cosmetics and drugstore products creates closed material cycles for packaging.

The reuse of packaging is by no means a new concept – in the German beverage industry, 44-45 percent of bottles are already reusable. Similar concepts are also in place in the food industry, such as the multiple use of boxes for transporting vegetables or bread. However, in other areas, particularly for cosmetics and drugstore items, the idea is still relatively new. In 2022, the Hamburg-based start-up Sea Me set out to close this gap and launched Zerooo, a reusable system for this industry. André Lang-Herfurt, Director of Marketing and Sales and co-founder of Zerooo, said in an interview in the FACHPACK TV studio: “Although there are established systems such as the dual system and recycling processes, the loss of resources remains immense”. According to Lang-Herfurt, the key question to be resolved is how to implement a genuine circular economy that drastically reduces packaging waste. He sees the solution here above all in reusable systems.

Zerooo's system started with reusable glass bottles used by brands such as Babor, Klaer Naturkosmetik, Sea Me and the Aveo brand of the Müller retail company. However, users are not unreservedly accepting glass in the bathroom, and the cosmetics industry has also placed a greater focus on plastic recycling in recent years due to the upcoming legal requirements.

More than two years ago, the Hamburg-based start-up, together with the Hamburg University of Technology and 10 renowned companies such as Sodasan Wasch- und Reinigungsmittel and Börlind, started the development process for the 300 ml Zerooo reusable PET bottle. Another development partner and supplier of the reusable bottle is Alpla, a global company for plastic packaging and recycling with many years of experience in the production of PET reusable bottles in the beverage context. In addition to the container, the partners have developed a portfolio of compatible labels and closures made of a single material. With national retail partners such as Budni, Edeka, Müller and Rewe, inbound and outbound processes have also been developed, thus preparing Zerooo for the launch of the first wave of brands in September 2024.

Returnable bottles for cosmetics and hygiene products — In addition to the packaging, the partners have developed a portfolio of compatible labels and closures made of a single material.

Thanks to the national return network of retail partners, users of products from participating brands can return Zerooo empties to almost 1,000 stores across the country in return for a deposit of €0.50 per bottle. Zerooo collects the empties from the retail partners, cleans them and makes them available to the brand partners again. At the end of the product life of a reusable bottle and the caps, the monomaterials sorted out at the cleaning line create new, pure material streams. This effect is intended to close resource cycles in the sense of the circular economy and enable the systematic reduction of single-use packaging waste.

Lang-Herfurt emphasises that the Zerooo system is not tailored to individual brands, but aims to integrate as many brands and retail partners as possible. The more companies and stores that participate, the easier it will be for consumers to use the system. “We want to create a system that is as simple as possible for all brands and for consumers,” explains Lang-Herfurt.

The first brands to be offered in Zerooo include Sodasan, i+m Naturkosmetik, Speick Naturkosmetik, Denttabs toothpaste tablets, 4 people who care, as well as Müller with its own brand Aveo and the brand of the operator of Sea Me.

Zerooo wants to demonstrate the scalability of the reusable system across a range of categories from hand soap and washing-up liquid to shampoo or body lotion and toothpaste. Some products from selected brands have been available at Budni, in some Edeka stores and online since the beginning of September. In October, a number of brands will have the reusable products in their range at the retail company Müller.

According to the company, this is the first wave of brand and retail partners; the impact start-up is already working on the second, with the first half of 2025 in mind.