New 3M Scotch tape packaging
I recently came across this article about 3M re-envisioning the reuse of their Scotch Tape dispenser. What are your thoughts - will it work? Will 2 cents per dispenser to charity motivate consumers to bring it back? Have reuse schemes come of age?
I recall The Body Shop had a bottle reuse/refill program whereby you could refill your bottles of product and get a discount. It was eventually discontinued due to lack of uptake. For cosmetics, perhaps this is the case, since people buy cosmetics to "feel beautiful" - is this the case when you have a dirty old bottle?
On the other hand, there are things like printer cartridges which seem to be quite profitable to reuse, with very high reusage rates - they have made it easy to do so by providing a box and postage to send back to the manufacturer, i.e. HP.
But with low value products such as a plastic tape dispenser, will it fly (literally and figuratively)? Will consumers be motivated by altruism to bring back their tape dispensers? Let's see how 3M makes it easy for the customer to do so.


