How Project Harmless is fighting plastic pollution - with a little help from American Express

The UK throws away more than ten billion plastic bags of dog waste a year. Find out how startup Project Harmless’ dissolvable poop bags are helping our hounds be more sustainable – with a little help from American Express

When George Greer and his partner visited Loch Long to walk their beloved Swiss Shepherd Noah, they expected to find beauty and tranquillity in nature. Instead, they found the stark reality of an environmental crisis. “There was this awful scene of plastic bags and debris all along the shoreline,” says George. “It shocked us. It underlined just how much plastic is in our water. In fact, ten per cent of general waste plastic worldwide ends up in rivers and oceans.”  

They decided to do something about it and their company, Project Harmless, was born. Now, just a year later, their solution – dog poo bags and carrier bags which are dissolvable in water – is available to all UK dog lovers who care about the environment. And Project Harmless is hoping to take its sustainability message global – with the help of American Express.

Dog waste disposal might not be the most glamorous of subjects. But it’s a huge problem.  "There are around 13 million dogs in the UK alone. Each one of those dogs does its business about three times a day, and around 70% of owners use dog mess bags. So that’s more than 25 million bags being used, every single day."¹ “Extrapolate that to a year and it’s around ten billion bags,” says George. “If ten per cent go into our water, that’s a billion. And most of those will be around for 500 years. As they decay, they release poisonous microplastics and toxins which are bad for wildlife. Fish eat them and they go into the human food chain.”

Perhaps, he reasoned, conventional biodegradable dog poop bags would be the answer. But when he began researching, he found that they’re not as biodegradable as many might think. A 2019 study from Plymouth University, for example, examined how different kinds of biodegradable bags responded when immersed in soil and water. It found that many brands were still functional after three years.

So, Project Harmless came up with a new approach. George’s partner had previously researched materials used to manufacture medical pills which dissolve as they are digested. Why not, they reasoned, use the same material for dog waste bags and carrier bags? After intensive development, manufacturing, and testing, they came up with a product that worked. 

“Unlike single-use plastic, our bags are water reactive, and they dissolve in the presence of water,” says George. “If our poop bags end up in the landfill, it will disintegrate very quickly." If it gets into the open environment, or into rivers or oceans, it will disintegrate very quickly. So, it’s no threat to fish or wildlife. With our Harmless carrier bags, you can take it home, put it in the sink and pour boiling water over it. It will dissolve.”

It's an exciting time for this new business. Currently, the dog poo bags and carrier bags are available via the Project Harmless website, individually or by subscription. And George is in talks with department stores, vets, premium pet foods and, of course, dog owners – who love the idea.

But every start-up needs all the help it can get, and that’s why George decided to become an American Express Merchant. Setting up was simple, he says. “It was done in a matter of days with just one or two calls. One of the banes of the life of small businesses is admin – and I also hate admin – but American Express admin is incredibly light. They do a lot of the heavy lifting for you.”

Along with its ease of use, George says that American Express is delivering real benefits for his business. “Their fraud detection is fantastic, and their analytics are hugely valuable,” he points out. “The data has enabled us to get more sales, and target customer and prospective customers better. That’s really leveraging the analytics that American Express has on its base and matching it to the profile of our typical purchasers. We also want to
participate in Shop Small™ and Amex Cardmember Offers – so it’s opening the Cardmember base to us. As a small business, the advantage of that to us is very significant.”

These days, he says, customers expect to be able to use their American Express® Cards, particularly when buying from online merchants. “If you look at the cost of accepting Amex against the benefits that Amex can provide – fraud detection, analytics, efficient customers service – there’s an equation there. And that equation quickly adds up. For us, it’s a no-brainer.”

Running a sustainable business, he says, is a joy: it’s great to feel that you’re making a difference. But the Project Harmless journey is just beginning, and American Express will be along every step of the way. “Everyone uses dog poop bags and it’s a major potential environmental impact,” George points out. “It’s not just the UK, it’s the EU and the US. So, we will be expanding into the EU and the US, I hope, over the next 12 months. Climate change is borderless, our opportunity is borderless and American Express is borderless. Wherever American Express is, our business can be.”

Interested in accepting American Express in your small business or want to learn more about benefits of accepting our cards? Visit the website today to find out more.

Sources:
(1) https://www.pfma.org.uk/pet-population-2022