Master of Environmental Science and Management: Eco-Entrepreneurship Project
(2010)
Eco-Entrepreneurship: Marketainer: Closed-Loop Packaging Solutions
Rori Cowan, Hylton Edingfield, Kathryn Tannenbaum, Priya Vytla
Deliverables:
Description
The goal of Marketainer is to phase out single‐use packaging by creating a reusable distribution infrastructure. Conventional disposable packaging is characterized by resource‐intensive production, supply chain inefficiencies, and extensive end‐of‐life management issues. These factors combine to create a substantial environmental burden and unnecessarily high economic costs. Marketainer aims to eliminate sources of waste throughout the supply chain for a wide range of flowable liquid and solid products. Building upon the existing bulk distribution infrastructure, the Marketainer system is designed to satisfy the product distribution needs of manufacturers, retailers, and consumers. The reduced environmental footprint of the Marketainer system was verified through a comprehensive life‐cycle assessment, comparing its impact to that of both typical disposable packaging and current bulk distribution. A detailed economic analysis confirmed the financial gains achievable with this new system. Additionally, extensive market research was conducted to formulate an effective marketing strategy, design a functional prototype, and shape the Marketainer business model. The result is a highly efficient, sustainable, state‐of‐the‐art system that the Marketainer team believes is the future of product packaging.
