Searious Business

01/09/2025

August 2025 Recap - creating impact with circular plastics - Searious Business - https://mailchi.mp/seariousbusiness/searious-business-monthly-recap-august-2025

21/08/2025

Spotted in the wild! - Refill vending machine for mineral water in Sveti Vlas, Bulgaria. 💧

The tap water in Bulgaria is actually pretty safe to drink, but the majority of people (especially tourists) prefer to drink bottled mineral water due to taste or habit. As you can imagine this generates a lot of empty bottles. As a solution this company, @Моята Вода, have placed vending machines where you can fill any bottle or container with clean, filtered water. The machine contains 5 layers of filtration; removing large particles, carbon to absorb chlorine and odours, microscopic particles, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet purification. You can even sterilize your bottle using the ozone function 💨

My Bulgarian is non-existent, but if i'm reading correctly, 5L costs only 77c whereas bottles are around €1/L making, it also 6 times cheaper than buying bottled water from a shop.

Safe water + save money + no (or a lot less) bottles to lug down to the recycling (if you're so inclined) = super simple solution.

This is not one of ours, I just like to applaud reuse/refill when I spot them out and about. Because the more we see it, the more normal it becomes and I hope one day it'll seem ridiculous that we wasted plastic on throw away applications.

12/08/2025

Check out the latest observations in Packaging Europe Magazine from our Marketing Communications Manager Emma Louise Samson who has been in Geneva at the final negotiations for the global plastic treaty this past week.

'When Oil Runs into Water: Stalemate at the INC' -
https://packagingeurope.com/features/tracking-the-key-developments-from-inc-52/13176.article

At this point, it seems like a universal treaty is a far away dream, but all is not lost! We may well end up with a smaller treaty with teeth just as sharp.

If the majority of countries accepted a treaty that addressed production levels, chemicals, products and design, reuse and recycling, we'd see massive impact in plastic pollution even without the petrochemical states. And the resulting drop in demand and lack of access to financial packages may just tip non-parties into joining at a later date.

With only 3 days left to iron out all those brackets, the pressure is on.

05/08/2025

So exciting to be here in Geneva for the FINAL session of the INC for a global plastics treaty. The mood is productive, the vast majority of participants want a good resolution to be made here by the end of the two weeks. Tellingly, there is no talk of extensions or delays (yet).

Delegates are furiously negotiating behind closed doors because most want to achieve as close to a consensus as possible. They are beyond ideological arguments and are getting down to the nitty gritty. Each article cannot be negotiated in isolation. They are very much interlinked and trade offs must work holistically. This is a big step forward.

Concensus will enable the most smooth, efficient and cost-effective implementation of solutions and financing. Will we achieve consensus? That remains to be seen, there are still a few countries trying to throw spanners in the works. But, there is growing support for opening the possibility of majority voting allowing the treaty to move forward.

The planet, its people, and its businesses, need a strong effective treaty that deals with plastic comprehensively across its lifecycle, and whatever we leave here with must be continually built upon and strengthened in the future.

This is it. We’re ready to get on with it. Searious Business

If you’d like to connect with us in Geneva, contact Emma Louise Samson or Willemijn Peeters

05/08/2025

On national radio this morning about UN Plastics Treaty:

Moet er een wereldwijde limiet komen op de productie van plastic? Die vraag staat centraal tijdens de zesde VN-plastic-conferentie in Genève, waar 175 landen opnieuw proberen afspraken te maken. Willemijn Peeters van de sociale onderneming Sea-rious Business is er voor de zesde keer bij.

01/08/2025

July 2025 Recap - creating impact with circular plastics - Searious Business - https://mailchi.mp/seariousbusiness/searious-business-monthly-recap-july-20250801

23/07/2025

A Piece of the Puzzle

What looks like a game is actually a warning.

Europe’s recyclers are sounding the alarm.

Can you guess what’s coming?

Find the elephant at K-Messe.

11/07/2025

♻️ Sustainability isn’t just an unavoidable cost — it can be a smart investment.

Our client Koffiebranderij Peeze asked us to help them transition to reusable bulk packaging for their corporate customers. The results?

✅ Tonnes of plastic and CO₂ saved

✅ Quick return on investment

✅ Up to 30% lower costs over time

A win for the planet and the bottom line.

If you're wondering where to start with reusable packaging, we're here to help.

👉 Check out some of our other reuse projects: https://www.seariousbusiness.com/reusable-packaging

📩 Or get in touch — let’s explore what reuse can do for your business.

09/07/2025

The Tease Begins

Everyone thinks they see the whole picture...

But there’s something we’re still not talking about.

It’s coming to the K-Messe…

04/07/2025

Saving costs by doing more with less. That’s how we help companies like Tramontina plastic reduction into a competitive edge.

Take pallet wraps, for example: switching from single-use to reusable doesn’t just reduce plastic and CO₂—it cuts down on material and manufacturing costs too. Plus saving product damages and reducing risk to staff.

Preventing plastic waste is no longer just a moral imperative. It’s a smart business strategy. By acting early, companies stay ahead of tightening regulations and avoid last-minute compliance scrambles. They also become more investable, and far more appealing to (retail) customers—who are under increasing pressure from their customers to offer truly sustainable solutions.

The question is no longer:
“Can we afford to go sustainable?”
It’s: “Can we afford not to?”

👉 Curious how we do it? Visit our Projects page to see how we’re helping other future-focused companies lead the way. https://www.seariousbusiness.com/projects-packaging

01/07/2025

June 2025 Recap - creating impact with circular plastics - Searious Business - https://mailchi.mp/seariousbusiness/searious-business-monthly-recap-may-18165539

16/06/2025

↻ 16th is World Refill Day – a global day of action to spark a .
At Searious Business, we focus on systemic solutions: helping brands, retailers, and policymakers redesign the way products are delivered, consumed, and reused. Because we believe that’s where real, scalable impact happens.

But systems only work if people engage with them.

Refill and reuse will only thrive if we—as individuals, communities, and consumers—choose to notice, support, and demand better options. The message behind this year’s is clear:

👉 There’s already out there.
Refillable packaging. Returnable containers. Smart reuse models. They’re not sci-fi anymore—they’re here, and growing.

So today, we celebrate every smart system, every circular pilot, and every refillable bottle that’s proving a better way is possible. But most of all, we celebrate the people helping to make them work—by using them.

Let’s keep pushing for a future where reuse is the rule, not the exception.

Visit our reuse projects here: https://www.seariousbusiness.com/reusable-packaging

More info on World Refill day from City to Sea: https://www.refill.org.uk/world-refill-day/