Unilever Bangladesh has introduced the first refill machines in Bangladesh to reduce plastic use by promoting the practice of reusing plastic packaging.
The refill machines allow anyone to refill Rin and Vim liquid at a discounted rate by bringing an empty container, an airtight jar and an old Rin or Vim liquid bottle.
Dr Abdul Hamid, director-general of the Department of Environment, inaugurated the first machine at Unimart Gulshan in Dhaka.
In alignment with its sustainability strategy, Unilever Bangladesh has committed to cutting the use of virgin plastic to half in its packaging process by 2025.
The machine is easy to operate where consumers can refill the bottle with very simple steps on the touch screen and can decide their volume ranging from 200ml, 400ml, 500ml, 800ml, 1 litre, and 1.5 litre and 2 litres.
The machine was developed by Unilever's research and development team in collaboration with a global startup company.
Unilever set up two machines at Unimart, Gulshan 2, and Agora, Japan Garden City, Mohammadpur.
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The further expansion of this initiative will be evaluated based on the lessons learned from this pilot. The company is also working to develop another pilot at the end of this year targeting the consumer in rural areas.
Zaved Akhtar, chief executive officer and managing director of Unilever Bangladesh, said: "By adopting a 'test, learn and refine' mentality, we have developed innovative solutions that will help people cut their use of plastic for good. It is still early days."
"But by making refill and reuse formats more widely available, accessible, and affordable, we hope to use our scale and reach to drive lasting change"