Need to Know
21 : 02 : 23

Sweden – Tomorrow Machine, an innovative design studio known for researching the future of packaging materials, has joined forces with juice company Eckes Granini to create GoneShells, a starch-based bottle that customers can peel, eat, compost and dissolve in water.

A collaboration between designers and researchers from the strategic innovation programme, BioInnovation, a joint venture by Vinnova, Formas and the Swedish Energy Agency, and experts from the RISE Research Institute of Sweden, these bio-based degradable bottles could revolutionise the packaging industry.

‘With a bottle designed to be torn apart after it has been used, like the peel of a fruit, the idea is that one can speed up the decomposition process,’ Anna Glansén, the founder of Tomorrow Machine, said in a statement. ‘When you break the packaging and put it in contact with water, a natural reaction starts to break down the bottle immediately – and that’s how we created a bottle that can disappear by itself.’

The re-usable packaging market has been around for a while (we expected its expansion back in 2019), but GoneShells is taking things further with a potato-based material that can be dissolved and eaten. With sustainability in mind, Tomorrow Machine has also broadened the food and drink experience. Appetites will adapt to those innovative materials affecting our day-to-day eating habits.

Sweden ­– To tackle the overlooked issue of indoor air pollution, Ikea has introduced a smart sensor to measure and monitor air quality at home.

While air pollution has been a top-of-mind concern for some time, awareness of the risks associated with poor indoor air quality due to everyday activities like cooking or cleaning remains low. To help people have a better idea of indoor pollutants present in their homes and to act to improve air quality, Ikea has created Vindstyrka.

The high-performing smart sensor measures and monitors air quality in real time, indicating levels of harmful pollutants which can’t be seen with the naked eye, as well as air humidity and temperature. The sensor can be connected to Ikea’s proprietary hub for smart devices, Dirigera, where users can access insights on their home’s air quality and take action if they own additional smart home devices, such as an air purifier.

Since the pandemic and the democratisation of hybrid working, home has become a synonym for a wellbeing haven, laying the ground for the rapidly growing Conscious Homes market.

US – President Joe Biden proposed a Junk Fee Prevention Act during his recent State of the Union address that would ban or reduce the unexpected (and sometimes unfair) fees imposed by travel, hospitality and entertainment businesses.

Junk fees include all the surplus payments charged by hotels (resort and amenities fees), airlines, event ticket retailers or tv, internet and phone service providers, which can charge over £166 ($200, €287) to terminate a contract early. Those taxes aren’t included in the upfront price, which means customers are surprised when they make their purchase.

A recent study by Morning Consult shows 75% of US adults surveyed support Biden’s proposals to reduce service fees for tickets purchased online for entertainment events and eliminate fees charged by telecommunications providers when consumers cancel their services.

In Neo-collectivism, we analysed how consumers shun individualism in favour of alliances decentralising industries and redistributing power at scale. The general approbation for the Junk Fee Prevention Act signals a new dynamic in which consumers question businesses’ maximisation of profits.