From their website: "At Daan Tech, we’ve always believed that a more sustainable and fairer world is possible.", you really have to be cynical to write something like this and then sell a worse washing machine that generate lot of plastic waste.
First of all, the cassettes are returnable. This is also mentioned on their website. * https://daan.tech/discover-bob-cassette/
> Each Bob cassette is returnable and reusable. We refill them and put them back on the market. Close the loop, lower your carbon footprint.
You're also NOT required to use the cassettes. You can just throw standard dishwasher tablets in. This is mentioned in Bob's manual, and probably on the website as well. I've been doing this for years and had no issue. There is no DRM-like aspect to Bob.
And finally, it's not a worse washing machine as you say, it's just smaller and more flexible (wrt plumbing), and as Techmoan mentions in his intro, this is a very strong advantage of Bob for people living in small European apartments.
(source: owner of Bob)
What percentage of Bob's customers bother to do that?
Would these people use a cleaner solution anyway? I mean, you can say that of any refilling system, if people don't use it.
My dishwasher uses detergent powder which comes in simple plastic containers that can be dealt with via regular plastic waste collection.
Of the fraction that gets returned, how many are actually reused? It's black plastic with a shine to it and it'll show scratches easily. Does the factory even have the facilities to clean them out and refurbish them for next use?
I think the abbreviation was (and probably still is) popular on Slashdot
It’s definitely better to have the bag with me, and just typing this out made me realize I can keep one or two in my backpack at all times.
I have some sympathy if you find yourself on a weekend out and about and needing to spontaneously buy some victuals and don’t have any bag on you - but that’s the cost of us having less litter.
But what about the responsible people who actually care about reducing their carbon footprint by not unnecessarily carrying 3000 lbs of steel everywhere they go?
I lived in Birmingham for a while (admittedly not in the downtown), and this was not my experience at all, nor have I ever heard this from anyone else I knew, including people that did live downtown. Obviously, there are better and worse areas like everywhere else, but most of the city is basically fine IMO.
I have another question for you while I have your attention; how do you handle trash? Do you just have a bin with no liner and you carry that to outside and pour it in to the big bin? Or do you buy plastic bags at the store to line your bin and then carry that plastic bag filled with crap to the bigger bin?
Result: Now there's even more plastic in the waste stream.
Yes, in theory, which requires from you the effort of packaging it up, paying postage, plan time to go to the post office, etc - or you could just throw it in the trash for exactly the same visible effect and be done with it. Even if people want to mail them back, this sounds like exactly the kind of task that will perpetually stay on the "I'll look into that when I have time" list, until they finally just want to get rid of it and throw it in the trash.
But it's good for shifting the blame, because then the pollution is not DaanTech's fault but those of individual consumers.
> You're also NOT required to use the cassettes. You can just throw standard dishwasher tablets in.
Doesn't this contradict what the article was saying? At least there was a quote from DaanTech somewhere that you have to have a cassette inserted to start a wash.
It is more eco friendly to have them be put out with the recycling and use a readily recycled plastic.
Beyond that it is far more friendly to just let the consumer use regular detergent from a bulk bottle that can be bought anywhere.
I tend to assume incompetence rather than malice. The marketing person that wrote that piece of copy never worried about the lifecycle waste analysis of the project they were working on, because they trusted the CEO/founder that hired them, who said it was gonna be good for the environment. They probably aren't the type of person that worries about nor has the skills to do a lifecycle waste analysis.