Zero Co

About

Zero Co operates a closed-loop refill system for plant‑based personal-care and cleaning products, supplying refill pouches and reusable ocean-plastic ""Forever Bottles"" that are returned, sanitized, refilled, and resold.

Mission

Zero Co operates a closed-loop refill system for personal-care and home-cleaning products: customers receive refill pouches, pour them into reusable “Forever Bottles,” then return empties in a complimentary reply-paid envelope for reuse. The company says deliveries are carbon negative and describes the model as “like the milkman, re-imagined.” Launched in November 2020 following a Kickstarter that generated more than 7,000 orders worth $742,000, the 11-month-old business has grown rapidly. It reports more than $1 million a month in sales and has signed up over 43,000 households. Founder Mike Smith has emphasized community ownership, running a Birchal crowd-sourced funding campaign to let customers become shareholders. The company plans to scale its team and ramp operations to address the global single-use plastic problem. Zero Co produces personal care and home-cleaning products packaged in recyclable, refillable dispensers made from plastic waste pulled from oceans and landfills. Customers return emptied “forever” bottles to be cleaned, refilled and resold; each dispenser includes a tracking code showing which part of the ocean was cleaned. The company says its ingredients are grey-water safe, plant-based, vegan, cruelty-free and (except for dishwasher tablets) free of palm oil. Zero Co plans to use the new capital to launch new products, hire senior roles, invest in pouch cleaning and sanitisation technology, conduct further large-scale ocean clean-ups and explore international markets. It has previously sourced its first batch of dispenser plastic from Jakarta (over 6,000kg pulled from the Java Sea in December 2019) and aims to convert thousands of households to reduce single-use plastic—targeting 20,000 Australian households to prevent 1 million single-use bottles. The business was founded by Kim Jackson and operates in Australia.

Quick Facts