Our thinking

Dizzie’s last spin

22 November, 2024

This week, we learned that Dizzie, a pioneer in reusable packaging, is closing. While their doors are shutting, they’ve left a thought provoking and honest blog with lessons for the reusable packaging community. Here’s the lowdown:  

We all know the problems of plastic packaging, but often the solutions aren’t exactly winning either: recycling rates are dismal (<10% effective), biopackaging poses environmental and practical issues, and refill-in-store systems have proved too inconvenient for most shoppers. 

Dizzie’s “return for refill” approach attempted to overcome these obstacles, offering pre-filled reusable packaging available online and in-store. Although ideal in theory, execution hit roadblocks. In 2018, when the company was starting out, government policy support seemed promising, with the UK’s 25-Year Environment Plan and Extended Producer Responsibility schemes hinting at big shifts for the industry. But then Brexit, high costs, and policy delays put the brakes on progress, and retailer confidence dampened. Dizzie also planned to grow rapidly to attract fresh investment, but when sales stalled, so did investor excitement. Another key failure highlighted by Dizzie was its focus on a bottom-up approach, rather than engaging directly with the big retailers, leading to challenges down the line. 

Still, Dizzie processed more units than any other company, removing 60.6 tonnes of waste and cutting associated emissions by 212 tonnes. It also sees promise in online grocery delivery, where packaging can be collected right from your doorstep, and retailers like Ocado and M&S have proven effective as early adopters. It says there will be a need for stronger industry collaboration, clearer market roles, and board-level retailer engagement to grease the wheels of policy change. Oh, and don’t forget simple, consumer-friendly messaging to make reuse a no-brainer to shoppers. 

While Dizzie ultimately closed, their journey offers lessons on reuse models, consumer buy-in, and the urgency of tackling packaging waste. Want to find out more? Read the full blog post here. 

By Charlotte Pounder