The idea of using a vending machine for refilling shampoos and other products has been introduced locally in various parts of the globe.

Last year, the company P&G, proposed an idea of introducing filling shampoos using refillable pouches, much like refilling handwashes to limit the use of one-time used bottles. A bottle made of aluminium will be provided to people which they can reuse by refilling using pouches made of recyclable plastic.

Although the ideas are great, they have some loopholes which we have tried to fill using our product.

• The refillable pouches, though are using less plastic and can be recycled later on, pose a major problem: Plastic will still exist in the environment. And the pouches will be ready to be recycled around 5-10 years later, according to a source. So, during these 10 years, how are we going to dispose of it? The plastic will still be in landfills, water resources and can still break into microplastics.

• According to data collected over the years, we have recycled only 8-10% of plastic. The rest is still extant. Our current job should be in stopping the use of plastics in domestic areas all at once rather than minimising it, whose window has been closed.

• Many experts around the world emphasize on having only 10 years to reverse the climate change and in this time of invisible emergency, total abandonment of use of plastic is required.

• The vending machines can be accessed locally by that shop and so the company or the organisation has to physically go and evaluate the use of their products instead of monitoring from their offices in different locations around the world.

So we have combined the two and modernised the combo a little. Having the power of internet vested in our hands, we created a centralised network wherein the vending machines can be accessed, monitored and maintained by the company people from remote locations in different areas and every requirement, from refilling the machines to mend the machine if anything goes wrong will directly be handled by the authorised company people. That way, everything remains confidential including customer usage data and each detail of the transaction will be available to the company.

They can even customize the machine according to their needs, like keeping many variations of a single product and monitor which is being consumed the most and keep themselves directly in touch with the customer’s needs.

• Employment: Unemployment is a major issue in many countries but what scares people the most is the uncertainty of getting a job although they are educated and have a degree. This project can help in employing many people who have a graduate degree. The machines, when used in remote areas require many technical administrators to maintain the database of each location and for servicing the vending machines whenever required.
If a company is not large enough to hire that many technicians, the government can be a huge help in helping these small-scale companies by investing in them.

• Set up of many businesses that can provide management and maintenance of these centralised networks of small shampoo companies: More businesses can be set up which can help these small-scale companies to manage their software securely and also their vending machines, like website managing companies. Even large companies can use these companies to lessen their workload and so can devote their time somewhere else.