After significant investment, many refill programs across North America and Europe struggled to scale in 2025. Not because sustainability fell out of favor, but because friction remained.
Three issues never fully disappeared:
- Hygiene concerns
- Extra time in-store
- Operational complexity for retailers
The result? A quiet shift.
More retailers are now prioritizing lightweight, low-carbon single-use formats, paired with traceable materials and digital transparency. It’s a hybrid model: designed for sustainability, built for how people actually shop.
The takeaway from 2025:
Circularity only works when it aligns with real human behavior, not ideal scenarios.
