Hepi Circle is Indonesia’s first refill delivery network that offers everyday cleaning products in reusable bottles. Customers buy for example a bottle of detergent at their local store (warung), pay a deposit and with their next purchase, customers return their empty bottles. The reuse habit is rewarded with a ‘hepi point’, that can go towards food or reusable products. The refill and distribution to local stores is powered by women on bikes. The pilot project has demonstrated financial feasibility and long-term potential impact – and with your support we could enable to develop Hepi Circle into a scalable social business.
(based on our sales data from the first test until now, July 2018)
Adapting to evolving lifestyles, plastic packaging is mostly designed for a single-use and immediate disposal. In Indonesia, the small-size individual packaging, known as 'sachets' is a particular phenomena. For example, about 70% of all detergent is sold in sachets. Sachets are unfeasible for recycling and are thus bound to leak into the environment.
(1) Sachets are made from multilayers that are unfeasible to recycle and economically unprofitable.
(2) Their small format has no value to be collected and is easily missed from the collection process.
(3) We found many sachets leaking to local drainage in many places in Indonesia.
Indonesia treasures some of the richest and most unique terrestrial and marine biodiversity areas, which are increasingly, threatened by future urbanization, low policy quality and in particular, increasing plastic pollution and marine littler. Estimated to be the second greatest leakage point of plastics into the ocean, plastic escaping the system also becomes a truly global challenge from here. Moreover, Brantas River in East Java is the most plastic polluted in Indonesia and #6 in the world.
Selling products in refillable containers (bottles or boxes) in 1,000 local kiosks at 4 districts in Surabaya or Gresik area (currently we're working at Surabaya border area, near Gresik).
Reducing 300 kgs of plastic packaging waste every year.
Making a plastic-free lifestlye a habit again.
Hepi Circle comprises a team of fifteen salaried and local employees.
Hepi Customers in warung
As an incentive for our customers, they receive 'hepi points' for every refill. The Hepi Points can be collected and exchanged for food or reusable products. We already have some subscribers that will collect hepi points to redeem a blender and a set of pan.
Our Refill Bottles
Vero molestiae sed aut natus excepturi. Et tempora numquam. Temporibus iusto quo.Unde dolorem corrupti neque nisi.
after the first week of the pilot project in January 2018
Such an exciting moment for us to write our first impact report and bring it to the warungs. Each warung receives a monthly update on the impact that all its customers are creating together by switching to the detergent in refill bottles.
since January 2018 in two warungs and extending in summer
We kicked off in January 2018 in two warungs to learn and itterate our concept. In summer we aim to extend to 3 more warungs.
May 2018
A lot of our customers responded that they actually prefer the powder detergent – we now introduced this as well and are happy to gain even more customers since then.
June 2018
We wish everyone a Hepi di Hari Yang Fitri with their families. During the Fitri you may exchange your hepi points for delicous chocolate cookies for only 50 hepi points instead of 270 points.
Kumala, currently working on developing a curriculum for project-based social innovation at one private university in Surabaya. She believes that we can change our plastic habits to become more ecofriendly. One of them is to reduce the consumption from the beginning. She has a vision that in the future, most of us will use reusable solution for everyday products and source the products locally.
I am Anne, a designer, almost graduated environmental sciences student and part-time social entrepreneur fueled by curiosity and optimism. As the co-founder I am conducting a systemic inquiry on single-use plastic packaging on Java and take creative action to shape Hepi Circle.
support our validation phase and upscaling plan.
Kumala Susanto
Anne Poggenpohl
hello (a) hepicircle.com
Made, Gresik
Surabaya
Indonesia
