The "Connecting Soap Cases Project" transforms used delivery bags into soap cases.

Case Summary

Background and history of the project

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What initiatives are you undertaking regarding the environment and sustainability?

Mr. Unno

The federation, while involving diverse stakeholders, is broadly developing initiatives related to "food," "environment," "local communities," and "peace and diversity" with the concept of "going beyond to a better tomorrow" towards a sustainable future. Regarding the "environment," we have set a target of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 46% compared to 2013 levels by fiscal year 2030, aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050. In addition, regarding plastics, with the understanding and cooperation of our members, we have been focusing on the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) for many years, utilizing the cooperative's unique system of "delivery" and "collection."

Kawakami

As Pal System Kanagawa is one of the member cooperatives of the federation, we promote our own environmental philosophy and policies while working in conjunction with the federation's initiatives.

Mr. Unno

What's distinctive is that, as a consumer cooperative (hereinafter referred to as "co-op"), we are undertaking these initiatives while involving our members. For example, when considering GHG emissions, there are classifications such as "Scope 1 (GHG directly emitted by the company)," "Scope 2 (GHG indirectly emitted by the company)," and "Scope 3 (GHG emitted after raw material procurement or sales)." However, in addition to these, co-ops also need to consider GHG emissions from the daily lives of their members. The same applies to reducing plastic use and waste, so I feel that the challenge lies in how to involve members in these initiatives, which is different from that of general companies.

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Could you tell us about the background behind the launch of the "Connecting Soap Cases Project"?

Kawakami

Similar to the federation, Pal System Kanagawa has been working with its members for many years to reuse and recycle containers and packaging in accordance with the "Container and Packaging Recycling Law" in order to promote domestic resource circulation and waste reduction. The items targeted are diverse, including plastics (PET bottles, rice bags, plastic bags, etc.), waste paper (product catalogs, paper cartons, yogurt cups, egg cartons, trays, etc.), and glass (bottles), but the collection rate varies considerably depending on the item. Some items, such as product catalogs and egg cartons, have a collection rate of over 70%, while others, such as the bulk bags used for home delivery, have had a collection rate of only 23-24% in recent years. The "Container and Packaging Recycling Law" obligates Pal System Kanagawa to pay a fee to a designated corporation for the reprocessing of containers that could not be collected voluntarily, and Pal System Kanagawa pays approximately 6 million yen annually just for bulk bags. As the collection rate of bulk bags increases, the amount paid will decrease, so Pal System Kanagawa has been working to increase the collection rate of bulk bags.

In fiscal year 2022, we undertook a project to calculate the collection rate for each of the 13 distribution centers and publish a ranking. This initiative was based on the hypothesis that the ranking would increase the motivation of our members to collect their waste, but unfortunately, even after about two years, it did not lead to significant results.

Therefore, in fiscal year 2023, alongside the rankings, we implemented a project to recycle the collected bulk bags into "pack cutters" that can easily open milk cartons and food packaging, and then give them away to our members. This received a great response, with over 1,300 applications from our members. Encouraged by this success, we decided to recycle the bags into something even more appealing as a second project in fiscal year 2024, and began considering what kind of goods to recycle them into.

Mr. Unno

Of course, we have always recycled the materials we collect from our members, but even if plastics are recycled into building materials such as baseboards, the products don't directly return to the members, so they don't really feel the impact, do they? In contrast, with this project, the recycled goods (hereinafter referred to as recycled goods) are returned directly to the members, so I think the response has been great because it gives them a real sense of accomplishment.

Kawakami

While rankings have a competitive feel, this project was conceived more like crowdfunding, where everyone works together towards a single goal. The emphasis on "collaboration"—working together for a certain period and building a sustainable society together—may have made it easier for our members to participate.

Mr. Unno

Consumer cooperatives are organizations where each consumer contributes money (investment capital) and operates and uses the services collectively, with members also participating in the organization's management. While typical companies often prioritize profitability in their operations, consumer cooperatives place great emphasis on how they can improve the living environment of their members. Therefore, when considering recycled goods, the question of "how will it benefit the lives of the members?" is a key consideration.
When we were considering recycled goods, my first suggestion was ballpoint pens, but our members pointed out that they often don't use ballpoint pens even if they receive them, so it might actually be wasteful. We proceeded with our considerations while receiving various feedback from our members in this way.

Kawakami

To gain the approval of our members, a simple reason like "it sounds interesting" isn't enough. The question is whether it has meaning for Pal System Kanagawa to do it. It won't be approved unless there's a story behind it and it's linked to our environmental policy. Ultimately, as Pal System, we decided to create soap cases, aiming for synergistic effects with our existing initiatives, as we have been promoting the use of soap that does not use synthetic surfactants and is gentle not only on rivers and the sea but also on the skin since the 1970s.

Reasons for selecting Pantech as our recycling partner

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Could you tell us how you first came across Pantech and why you chose Pantech as your partner?

Kawakami

We had decided to recycle the bulk bags into soap dishes, but at that point we hadn't found a recycling partner. It was around that time that we attended a trade show about plastic recycling, and that's how we met Pantech .

Takagi

I was transferred to the Environmental Promotion Division in April 2024, but I didn't know the details about plastic recycling when I attended that exhibition in May, and I was searching for companies that could support this project.

At Pantech booth, we were introduced to their initiative with Fancl, where they repurpose cosmetic containers into flowerpots, and we felt a strong affinity with our current project. After hearing more details, we learned that, as they advertise themselves as "total producers of plastic recycling," they have a wide range of partners and many ideas to draw upon, which we found very appealing.

Kawakami

After that, as we moved forward with our discussions and I conveyed our requests, they offered suggestions from various angles, which made me feel confident that I could entrust the project to them as a partner. That was a major reason for our selection. I appreciated that they didn't just narrow it down to one proposal, but instead offered options like "How about this?" and "How about that?".

Takagi

The fact that companies like Fancl had a wealth of experience in transforming collected plastic into other products also encouraged us.

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What aspects of Pantech stand out from other companies, and what do you think are its unique features?

Kawakami

Before mass production began, they verified the molding conditions for creating soap cases from bulk bags, which I believe is a unique feature not found in other companies. They selected recycled materials suitable for combining with the recycled materials derived from the bulk bags from their own database, and they also verified the optimal mixing ratio at their own facility, which gave us a great sense of security.

We were grateful that you offered several graphic design options for the soap case packaging, in addition to materials and shapes. As we progressed with the packaging design process, we really wanted to involve our members in the decision-making process, so we decided to use social media to have them vote for their favorite packaging design. We were truly helped by your flexible response to this request.

For our union members, the fact that the package design was decided based on their own opinions made the voting process enjoyable, and I believe it helped them to take on this project as something even more personal.

3. Project Outcomes

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What kind of feedback did you receive from union members regarding the "Connecting Soap Cases Project"?

Kawakami

First, we received applications from a total of 2,609 people for the soap case giveaway. This was double the number of applications for the first round of giveaways, the pack cutter, so the response was very strong.

We created a page on our website about the "Platto Connecting Soap Case Project," and it received 10,981 views from November 1, 2024, when we started publicizing the project, until February 28, 2025, when applications closed. This was the third most viewed page on the entire Pal System Kanagawa website, and we are very surprised that so many people have viewed a single project, as we have never seen anything like it before.

This result shows that a great many people are interested in this topic.

Mr. Unno

Normally, the most viewed pages on our website are those related to our business, with pages about products, distribution centers, and delivery routes making up the top 10 or so.

It's unusual for a feature page like this to rank so highly in terms of views; this time was a special case.

Kawakami

The amount of bulk bags collected also improved by more than 20% compared to last year, with 65.7 tons collected during the period. We believe that the objective of this project, which was to increase the amount of bulk bags collected, has been achieved.

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What efforts did you make to ensure the success of the "Connecting Soap Cases Project"?

Kawakami

This relates to the website's page views mentioned earlier, but we made sure to keep the pages updated with the latest information throughout that period. I think that's why the same people kept visiting the site repeatedly.

Mr. Unno

We also implemented a system where the more soap collected, the more soap cases would be given away. For example, if the amount collected during the period was 59.0 tons, a 10% increase compared to last year, we would give away 300 cases; if it was 61.7 tons, a 15% increase, we would give away 400 cases; and if it was 64.0 tons, a 20% increase, we would give away 500 cases. In the end, we collected 65.7 tons, and were able to give away all 500 soap cases we made to our members.

We had planned to give away 200 pack cutters if the amount collected exceeded 67.1 tons, a 25% increase compared to last year, but unfortunately we didn't reach that goal. Nevertheless, as I mentioned before, I feel that the fact that the amount collected increased by more than 20% compared to last year is a sufficient achievement.

Kawakami

In addition, in conjunction with this "Connecting Soap Cases Project," we created a flyer called "Reuse & Recycle Mini BOOK" and distributed it to our members.

The flyer includes an explanation of the project, an introduction to soap products, instructions on how to return reused and recycled items, and information on what kinds of products they are recycled into. To raise awareness of reuse and recycling, we designed it as an accordion-fold flyer that can be compactly folded and stored for repeated viewing.

Takagi

When we distributed these flyers, we received inquiries every single day. That's something that rarely happens.
Since not many people usually look at paper, the response was really overwhelming. In addition, we also produced a video summarizing the process from the packaging bag to the soap case.

Kawakami

The video is publicly available on our website and can also be accessed via the QR code printed on the soap case packaging. It's also available on the Pal System Kanagawa YouTube channel, "Pal*Yume Channel," so we hope many people will watch it.

Takagi

I was in charge of filming the video, and Umino did the editing. We put a lot of effort into both filming and editing because we want as many people as possible to see it. We plan to continue using this video in various ways to improve the recycling rate of recyclable bags.

Future developments

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What initiatives would you like to undertake regarding the recycling of plastic resources in the future?

Takagi

During the meeting, some expressed a desire to continue with the current approach, but we plan to consider future goals and recycled goods going forward.

We've also come up with the idea of using donations instead of merchandise, so we want to explore various possibilities without limiting ourselves to just merchandise. In doing so, we'd like to seek the opinions of the board members, who represent the members, and develop a project that reflects the spirit of the cooperative and Pal System.

Mr. Unno

In municipal plastic resource collection, various resins are mixed together, making sorting difficult, and most of it is thermally recycled. However, as you know, many countries overseas do not consider this method to be recycling.

On the other hand, unlike municipal plastic resource collection, we have a system in place to collect plastic resources from our members when delivering goods and carefully sort them by material. We ask for the cooperation of our members in sorting during collection, and then many staff members, including drivers, delivery centers, and recycling centers, work together to improve the accuracy of the sorting. That is why we are proud to be able to achieve high-quality resource recycling.

We want to implement initiatives that will allow our members to truly feel the benefits of resource recycling. If they feel that their own actions are contributing to resource recycling, it will lead to an improvement in the collection rate and further advance resource recycling. We hope to implement measures that will allow our members to feel the benefits of resource recycling, not just through projects like this one.

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Finally, what are your expectations for Pantech ?

Kawakami

I found many helpful case studies on Pantech 's website, so I hope they continue to add more examples like this in the future.

Also, I think that products like " ReTA BASE, " which use recycled materials but are still stylish, will be of interest to our members, so I would be happy if you could help us think of such projects.

Mr. Unno

This time we made a soap case from a bulk bag, but it would be interesting if we could transform any resource we collect, not just bulk bags, into something that will surprise our members.

We would be very grateful for any suggestions you may have. Not only is the product itself important, but increasing the proportion of each material used would also be an opportunity for our members to realize that their efforts are contributing to high-quality resource recycling, so we would like to challenge ourselves to increase the proportion of each material used. Ideally, we would like to recycle the bulk bags into bulk bags again, so we would appreciate your support in achieving that as well.