Unilever Bangladesh Limited (UBL) has introduced the first-ever refill machine in the country for dispensing liquid-type products to its consumers to reduce plastic use through technology and behavior change.
The refill machine allows anyone to refill of Rin and Vim liquid at a discounted rate by bringing an empty container and old Rin or Vim liquid bottle, said a press release on Wednesday.
Dr Abdul Hamid, director general of Department of Environment (DoE), inaugurated the machine at Unimart Gulshan as chief guest in the presence of Masud Iqbal Md Shameem, director (Environment clearance) of DoE, Zaved Akhtar, CEO and managing director of UBL, and Murtoza Zaman, CEO of Unimart Limited.
In alignment with Unilever’s sustainability strategy, UBL plans to cut the use of virgin plastic to half in its packaging process by 2025, hence the initiative, the release reads.
According to UBL, this new machine is easy to operate where consumers can refill the bottle with very simple steps in touch screen and they can decide their own volume ranging from 200 ml, 400 ml, 500 ml, 800 ml, 1 litre, 1.5 litre and 2 litres.
This way consumers will use the same bottle repeatedly and as a result, it will promote the practice of reusing plastic packaging.
The machine is developed by Unilever R&D team in collaboration with a global startup company, which has been checked and validated by Metrology Division of Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution.
Currently, Unilever has established two machines at Unimart, Gulshan 2 and Agora, Japan Garden City, Mohammadpur.
The further expansion of this initiative will be evaluated based on the lessons learned from this pilot.
Zaved Akhtar said: “To tackle the root causes of plastic waste we need to think differently about packaging. By making refill and reuse formats more widely available, accessible, and affordable, we hope to use our scale and reach to drive lasting change.
“The urgency to act on plastic pollution is now widely understood and Unilever is committed to creating a circular economy for plastic. Besides recycling, refillable, and reusable packaging could well be the game-changer the world needs.”
