Juve

Single use packaging an insidious type of pollution that has made society reexamine how to we consume with convenience. Juve provides e-commerce subscription companies with robust reusable packaging, along with technology and data to nudge end customers to behave responsibly with their packaging and participate in a product packaging and shipment packaging system. By creating a sustainable and systemic alternative to single use plastics, Juve will move consumption and logistics to a more closed loop society. 

78 million tons of plastic packaging are produced annually and primarily used for single use applications. However, less than a fifth of all plastic is recycled globally because products and systems are not designed in a way to recover resources. 95% of the value of plastic packaging material, worth USD 80-120 billion annually, is lost to the economy (according to the Ellen MacArthur foundation). This material is an amazing material that has the ability to preserve and protect materials, but has been designed and used in a way that hasn’t considered the end of life scenarios. 

The rise in consumption through e-commerce platforms have contributed to the rise of the packaging problem. Specifically, “15 percent of online shoppers have signed up for one or more subscriptions to receive products on a recurring basis” (McKinsey). Translated into revenue growth, subscription ecommerce sales saw a 4,461% increase from 2011 to 2016. These repeat customers seek subscription services to help save time and money, to be surprised and delighted by a variety of products, or to gain exclusive access to products or services.

By reducing the amount of plastic pollution created from single use packaging Juve is serving the global population. However, our primary users will be e-commerce subscription companies and our secondary users will be customers of those e-commerce subscription companies. 

In a world where subscription companies experience scrutiny for their contribution to solid waste pollution, these companies need packaging alternatives that benefit their brands and the environment. 

This packaging alternative would need to be: 

• Reusable

  • The packaging should be used several times 

  • The carbon impact of the reusable packaging should be less than single use packaging 

• Managed at the end of life 

  • The material should be recyclable or upcycled 

• Smart 

  • The packaging should be able to communicate with consumers and provide information about the product

  • Allow for customization 

  • Provide information about the other features 

• Beautiful

Juve Nation provides packaging as a service to subscription based e-commerce consumer packaged goods company. 

Juve Nation offers customized, smart, reusable packaging solutions to companies as well as the technical support and infrastructure to manage the inventory, quality checking, cleaning, and deploying logistics for both product packaging, shipment support packaging, and shipment packaging. 

In addition to offering the physical packaging system, Juve Nation uses AI to recommend types of packaging and customizations on packaging for different customers in order to elicit the most environmentally friendly behavior from the end customer. 

Subscription e-commerce companies have a unique interaction with their customers: they deliver a package to homes on a regular and predictable cadence. Leveraging this opportunity for smart, rentable, reusable packaging, shifts the concept of single use packaging ownership (from supplier to manufacturer to brand to customer) to a closed loop system of packaging reuse enabled by data.  Interfacing between a brand (who has customer facing, cost saving, and environmental goals) and an existing complex and dynamic logistics infrastructure, Juve Nation leverages data to enable right size packaging options, optimal delivery mode, and reverse packaging logistics management to reduce waste. 

Our solution will useartificial intelligence and machine learningto offer ideal packaging solutions from an environmental perspective to subscription e-commerce companies. We will achieve this by understanding and catering to consumer behaviors, incorporating size of products being shipped, and collaborating with logistics partners for optimized route planning.

Circular economies don’t exist today because disparate systems have varying motivations and have not found a way to align. Generating and leveraging data to bring varying industries together while changing the way people shop and experience products is an opportunity to combat plastic pollution.

Currently, we are not servicing customers as we are in the idea phase of our concept. We would like to be testing with 5 clients in a year and in 5 years would be operating with 50 clients.  

In the next year, the goal is to prototype a proof of concept and test pilot a system with a potential client. Building on the feedback from the prototype we would launch our alpha product and pilot with 5 clients. Within 5 years, the goal is to be a household name in sustainable packaging and to be a leader in alternative, reusable packaging solutions. 

• Outsiders in the packaging industry/competition: Our team is starting from scratch as a packaging company and would have to learn about the nuts and bolts of the packaging industry. 
• Customer behavior: Changing human behavior, especially humans that are adjusted to cheap and convenient solutions will be critical to our success. 
• Shifting recycling landscape: Plastic pollution is a cause for concern especially in today’s media. This, as well as other regulatory situations driven by China’s National Sword policy have changed the market dynamics for recycling. The perception that recycling is not currently working may change and consumers may revert to single stream as a reliable method to “close the loop” on their consumption 
• Materials innovations: In an effort to move away from plastic, there has been significant investment and investigation into natural alternatives to plastic that degrade in natural environments. In our current waste system these materials still pose a challenge. Movement to these alternatives and even confusion around the benefits of these materials may hinder the adoption of reusable packaging.

• Outsiders in the packaging industry/competition: Our team has some experience in the packaging industry and can leverage that to get up and running. By targeting a specific market segment and being a first mover for that market is the approach. 
• Customer behavior: This team has a strong background in designing using the human- centered design process and has been exploring different nudges that would get consumers return packaging as a habit. With a relentless focus on the user’s needs, behavioral science, and data, our team believes that we can help people make better choices for the environment.
• Shifting recycling landscape and materials innovations: for these barriers, keeping a close eye on policy and innovation in the markets will be critical to anticipate any major shifts in the industry. However, both are slow moving and our team is well connected with academics and researchers that would help us stay ahead of the curve on any major shifts. 

3

Although this has yet to be validated, the anticipated model is to charge e-commerce companies a “packaging and shipping as a service fee”. This would include reusable packaging, integration with logistics, and packaging system management and AI/ML insights to support the system. 

Solve is a unique opportunity to work with practitioners who are at the cutting edge of circular economy development. Our society is just at the beginning of sweeping change and the Solve team and the resources they provide have the mindset of possibility and innovation that not only is circular economy possible, it is urgently required. 

We would like to partner with e-commerce subscription companies as clients, with packaging manufacturers as suppliers, behavioral scientists, and AI ML engineers to design our technical infrastructure. 

We would like to use this funding to innovate on the use of AI/ML for customized solutions for customers that drive efficiency for companies and generate a positiveenvironmental return. 

We would like to test and pilot our solution to serve as amodel for success - expanding outside of the subscription e-commerce space where one-time purchases are more common could have significant impact. 

Two of our founders are female entrepreneurs who are committed to support each other and create opportunities for other women in startups. We would particularly be interested in recruiting women in STEM for AI/ML roles.