YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ?
We have answers!
THE PRODUCTS
The products have been developed and produced in Belgium in partnership with a social enterprise, which is an adapted company employing handicapped people and helping them to develop themselves in our current society. Choosing for Superzero is also making the social choice!
We thought about it and even tried but making high quality eco-friendly products requires quite some expertise.
Therefore, we decided to partner up with a local expert on this matter. In addition, we believe that our real added value is in developing the right distribution system allowing a large-scale transition towards zero-waste consumption rather than reinventing the wheel on existing products.
Of course! Currently 3 of our products (Laundry, dishwashing liquid and all-surface detergent) are certified with the European Ecolabel. We chose the EU Ecolabel as it guarantees both the eco-friendliness of the products as well as their efficiency. The softener will not be certified as there is no EU Ecolabel for such product class. However, like our other products, it is also made of more than 99% of natural products and biodegradable.
In order obtain the EU Ecolabel we had our products tested against traditional (non-eco) products to demonstrate that we are at least as effective as those products. The effectiveness of the product plays a critical role in its eco-friendliness as less effective products require higher doses which result in more packaging and transport.
THE PACKAGING
Our reusable pouches are 100% Polyethylene, this is by far the material that best withstood all out tests! The Superzero pouches are the first 100% reusable and recyclable pouches in Europe!
We tested different kind of materials, such as Glass and Aluminium. However the impact in the production of a bottle of glass and aluminium is much bigger than a pouch of 100% Polyethylene. Adding the benefits of the retro-logistics when we recuperate the pouches to clean them and refill them, we can transport 1,000 pouches in a box, while it require an entire truck to make with glass or aluminium bottles.
Our refillable bottles are made from different types of resistant and recyclable plastics like PET or HDPE. In addition, we chose durable materials for the labels to make sure your bottle lasts for as long as possible. The combination bottle-label is 100% recyclable through the standard collecting process (blue bags in Belgium).
We have looked at all possible options (e.g. glass, inox, aluminium) and plastic is the best option for multiple reasons :
Weight : Plastic is lighter than glass or metal which makes it much easier to transport. This is key for the logistics to recuperate the containers to wash them, refill them and send them back to other superheroes!
Strength : Unlike glass, plastic is resistant to little shocks. With a plastic bottle, you run no risk of breaking your laundry bottle in the middle of your grocery bag.
User-friendly: No risk of stockout! Like glass, plastic can be transparent which makes it easy to assess in a blink of an eye whether you still have enough product or you need to refill.
Affordable: Plastic has a low production cost. This is the only material allowing us to offer you our return loop system at an affordable price.
Eco-friendly : Plastic is perceived as a less eco-friendly material than glass or metal. This is only true if it used only once before being disposed. Once plastic is reused and recycled, it can be more eco-friendly than glass or metal as its production and recycling process require much lower temperatures. In our analysis we could measure that once we re-use a pouch 3 times, it has the lowest impact versus buying a single-use recycled bottle, a single-use pouche or even going to refill your bottle to your bulk store.
Safety: As our products are used in a home environment and in wet conditions, there might be occasions in which our consumers would drop them and by using glass or aluminium can be broken and cause an accident to the person or any other family member.
The Superzero Pouches are the first 100% reusable and recyclable pouches in the market. We estimate that a Superzero Pouch can be re-used 20 times on average. However, if handled with care, 40 refills are possible.
We estimate that a refillable bottle can be refilled 25 times on average. However, if handled with care, 50 refills are realistic. To avoid leaks, it is key to replace the bottle once it is damaged. The damaged bottle can be 100% recycled through the standard collecting process for plastics (blue bags in Belgium).
You are not forced to use the Superzero bottles if you buy the Superzero Pouches. All the legal information required by the Law is placed in the Superzero Pouches. So if you have a bottle that you are more in love with, you can use it. If that is the case we recommend you to make sure you use a strong enough and safe bottle to avoid to be hurt in case there is an accident at home.