A plastic bottle takes 600 years to decompose at sea, but we use it for no longer than just 20 minutes,” says Teodoro Bava, Commercial Director at Reload Beleza Positiva. The Brazilian cosmetics company is the first in the world to reuse mineral water bottles to package its haircare products. “We came up with this idea while assessing how products are currently consumed and disposed of,” adds Bava.

The company was first launched in 2013 but underwent a complete overhaul last year and now focuses heavily on sustainability. “We repositioned Reload to challenge old, unsustainable market models and provide a new option for consumers who are concerned about their health and the environment,” says Bava.

“We have entered this new market to show we must rethink production and...

“We have entered this new market to show we must rethink production and consumerism,” Teodoro Bava, Commercial Director at Reload Beleza Positiva

Reload thus collaborated with mineral water company Água Mineral São Lourenço. They proceeded to map out the establishments where Água Mineral São Lourenço’s products are sold, such as bars, hotels and restaurants, and later started collecting disposed water bottles from them directly. The company then developed and patented a new sanitizing technique to clean all collected bottles, which are then reused to package Reload’s products.

At the moment, only two products in the company’s portfolio are sold packaged in reused water bottles - a shampoo and a conditioner. Both of these products are all-natural and vegan, as well as sulphate- and parabens-free with an exclusive fragrance developed by Givaudan. Prices vary between R$ 60 to R$ 70 (about 14 and 17 US dollars) for 300ml bottles, putting them in the high-end category in Brazil. “With this launch, we were able to confirm Brazilian consumers’ willingness to pay more for a product that has high performance, but is environmentally friendly.

The shampoo and conditioner, as well as a kit containing both products, are available for purchase at Reload’s e-commerce website. Bava says that the company is currently in negotiations with gyms, natural product stores and beauty salons that share the company’s values, meaning its products. For instance, the company’s products were recently launched in some Mundo Verde stores in São Paulo.

We will also include a company display at each of these locations so that consumers can correctly dispose of Reload’s product packaging,” explains Bava. “The bottles will be put through the sanitization process again, being reused once more after the process is completed. Should the packaging be damaged in any way, it will be sent to a recycling facility.

Reload does not intend to limit this new offering to two products and is looking to scale up things. “We have exciting projects to launch new products and lines, all of which will be packaged in reused bottles,” explains Teodoro Bava. “This model is at the core of Reload and we refuse to change the way we are. We have entered this new market to show we must rethink production and consumerism.