Watchmaker Breitling is introducing a foldable, reusable watch box created entirely from upcycled PET bottles.
The solution, which will be available in early 2021, has already been awarded the Efficient Solution Label, given by the Solar Impulse Foundation to solutions that it deems to have had a positive impact on the environment and the economy.
Following the cradle-to-cradle principle, once the box is no longer needed, it can be recycled at a dedicated facility where it will be fed back into the rPET cycle.
Breitling’s CEO, Georges Kern, comments: “Breitling is committed to doing everything within its sphere of influence to reduce the company’s environmental impact. With that in mind, we started working on a sustainable packaging concept with the goal of optimizing the impact on the environment, and the result has exceeded our ambitions.
“It has evolved into a positively disruptive element that has affected many different aspects of our packaging, ranging from material to transport and even to how customers will use the box.”
The new pack is about half the size of Breitling’s current box. At the same time, the company was able to reduce the number of elements used from an average of 12 to just three: the box, the pillow, and the quick-start guide.
With its revised packaging concept, Breitling is able to ship the new boxes directly to its markets, reportedly meaning that the average distance a box travels is reduced by almost 30%.
The smaller size also apparently has a positive impact on logistics, particularly since the box can be unfolded and shipped flat. According to the company, all of these steps have led to a reduction in transport-related CO2 emissions of over 60% compared to those generated by the shipment of its original watch box.
