Bottloop created a new kind of recycling experience, by both re-inventing bottle plastic to be more easily collapsible, while also re-inventing the vending machine, letting our target, at certain key locations and events, activate the recycling process.

Japan is a very environmentally conscious society, where plastic trash has become a big topic, with companies here looking for ways to produce more sustainable products. In addition, Japan has long adored vending machines, which are found everywhere. Therefore, creating the world’s first vending machine that encourages recycling by making it a topic of conversation, and in this case, taking the highly collapsible plastic bottle as payment for a fresh one, was an idea that makes good sense culturally and was easily and quickly engaged with in Japan.

Coca-Cola, which owns the ILOHAS water brand, has set down some serious standards for sustainability, and ILOHAS is one of the leading examples of some tangible progress in this area.

The ILOHAS brand believes plastic bottles aren’t trash but should be a valuable resource. Which is why they produced a thinner, more easily collapsible bottle that’s 100% recyclable. This newly invented vending machine which accepts 100% recyclable bottles as payment for a fresh, new bottle, was created to support this sustainability message.

The brief that led to the creation of the vending machine was to find a way to showcase the collapsible plastic to support and extend the films on paid media, but also express how the entire product (bottle, label, cap) is recyclable. Also, that recycling can have a fun side.

The creative idea was to build a number of vending machines that would take the re-invented, highly collapsible ILOHAS bottles as payment for a fresh bottle, while recycling all three parts of the used one. This first-of-a-kind vending machine would not replace all the ILOHAS vending machines, but be used at specific locations and on specific days, where they could get the highest exposure, such as highly engaging spring and summer events.

As Japan’s best-selling bottled water, the target for ILOHAS is not very specific, though the primary target has been Gen X who place sustainability as a primary focus for items they consume. Along with films expressing the virtues of the newly invented plastic, which is thinner and more easily recycled, this idea provides consumers with a daily recyclable habit by way of a vending machine which accepts an empty recyclable bottle for a fresh one. This was important as a strategic focus as recycling in Japan is talked about a lot in a very serious, almost painstaking way, but not in a more fun, social way—and in that way it was important to be a little lighter in tone with this idea.

The Bottloop ILOHAS vending machine invites consumers to experience sustainability in a most natural way, through the use of the ubiquitous vending machine, an experience Japanese have almost daily. By inserting an empty ILOHAS bottle, made of re-invented plastic which is highly collapsible, along with the recyclable cap and label, the ‘empty’ acts as payment for a fresh new bottle of ILOHAS, creating a fresh, fun new way to actively recycle, but even more importantly, bringing the subject of recycling to the forefront of daily conversation, and daily recycling.

The new vending machines were placed around Shibuya shopping areas over a weekend and gained a huge amount of media attention. With the success of the launch this spring, the machines will surface again at various outdoor events and concert settings through the summer, bringing more attention to the recycling movement as well as the ILOHAS promise of sustainability.

While the launch of Bottloop has just occured, the results so far have been highly encouraging. For a product that has placed sustainability at its center, the Bottloop vending machines have helped build a leadership position for ILOHAS to 'co-create the future while delivering refreshment'. In just this first weekend launch, over US$1 was gained in earned media, with thousands of organic comments, and over 100 million impressions about the machine during the first week after the launch in Shibuya. A busy summer schedule is planned for the machines to be used at concerts and other events, sure to lead to more coverage of the need for sustainability and ILOHAS leadership in that important area.