TotalEnergies promotes refillable packaging solutions to reduce single-use plastics; company offers two models: On-the-Go and At-home refills across various product categories

TotalEnergies helps you to develop refillable packaging models through our wide product portfolio. These solutions can significantly reduce waste and environmental impact. This is in line with the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which aims to promote reusable and refillable systems.

How do refillable models work?

Refillable containers can be refilled multiple times, reducing the need for single-use packaging. This business model can be applied across various product categories. Brand owners offer products in reusable containers such as in Personal Care, Household Cleaning and Food & Beverages.

Two distinct models can be developed, adapting to consumers’ habits:

• With On-the-Go refills, consumers can refill their containers away from home using in-store machines or mobile locations. Alternatively, they can pick up pre-filled packaging and simultaneously return empty containers for refilling.
   
• At-home refills enable consumers to operate their refill solutions directly from home: they can refill their containers using refill-ready formats or dilutable concentrates. They can also get prefilled packs delivered to their doorstep and give back empty packs for reuse.

How TotalEnergies helps you to be part of this shift.

At TotalEnergies, we are committed to producing circular polymers, and we have a full range of polyethylene and polypropylene grades that can already meet your customers' requirements, so with us you can quickly begin to develop refillable packaging.

We offer these grades under our RE:clic range: our portfolio of circular polymers which provides advanced-recycled polymers (RE:build range) and bio-certified polymers (RE:newable range). The latter are made from bio feedstocks based on vegetable oils or waste from bio-origin and allow to reduce carbon emissions without compromising on performance.

Moreover, to maximize the sustainability of your refillable product, our innovative developments can also support your eco-design approach towards monomaterial solutions and further downgauging. As an example, we have developed different recipes with Lumicene® Supertough mPE grades to replace demanding (high barrier) multi-material packaging with equivalent mono-material pouches enhancing their recyclability. These pouches can be used as a solution to refill reusable rigid packaging such as cosmetic containers or detergent bottles produced with our outstanding HDPE blow molding grades. In cosmetic packaging, PP jars made with our injection moulding PP grades can be used as a receptacle for PP refill pods.

Building the shift together

Refillable packaging solutions are challenging: from encouraging consumers to adapt their habits, to the establishing of convenient refill stations for in-store and at-home refills, the entire value chain also needs to pay attention to balancing convenience and affordability for a remarkably diverse market.

With our innovation and your collaboration all along the value chain, we are confident that we can take on these challenges and reduce plastic waste by shifting from single-use plastics to refillable solutions.