Why We Designed the World’s First Compostable Corr-a-Clip

Being a product designer responsible for creating innovative PoS solutions, obsessiveness comes with the territory. Rarely am I not thinking about the next big thing in retail and how we can provide products our customers need and want, and are as environmentally friendly as possible, too.

At Harrison, our purpose of ‘reimagining retail’ means committing to developing products that minimise, and ideally prevent, harming our planet. In the PoS industry, plastic is seemingly unavoidable, but manufacturers and suppliers like Harrison, are investing considerable time and money in designing and producing eco-alternatives.

Finding a solution to an industry-wide problem

Something we found troublesome, up until our lightbulb moment in 2018, was the discarding of cardboard free-standing display units (FSDU) into landfill, complete with the plastic corr-a-clips used to hold the units in place.

Several weeks of scribbling on whiteboards, brainstorming ideas over coffee, evaluating the pros and cons of each suggestion, and generally scratching our heads, we hit upon a solution.

What if we could create a cardboard clip to support a shelf on a FSDU, simple enough to construct, and easy enough to discard into standard recycling streams? And even better if the components were compostable. The cardboard corr-a-clip was born! And a world-first, too.

The global unveiling of our solution

Trials began a few months later, primarily focusing on durability and strength, and we excitedly unveiled our latest innovation at the Euroshop Exhibition in Dusseldorf in February 2020. The orders poured in. Until covid arrived one month later and those orders were paused whilst everyone figured out what to do next! Whilst we momentarily turned our attention to supplying our customers with sneeze screens, ‘keep 2m apart’ stickers, and hand sanitiser stations – not our typical product offering – soon enough life was slowly returning to normal and sales of the cardboard corr-a-clips boomed with millions now being used in the market.

I’m enormously proud of the product and the team of designers at Harrison; to see another creation brought to life always brings a great sense of achievement, especially one that minimises harm to the planet. Our cardboard corr-a-clips decompose in just 90 days and have so far prevented thousands of tonnes of FSDUs and plastic clips from being discarded in landfill and that’s worth celebrating.

Time to get back to the next big thing!

• Keen to sample our cardboard corr-a-clip? Contact us on sales@harrisonproducts.com and we’ll pop one in the post.
• Read more about our Green Promise and how we champion environmentally conscious values through what we do, what we sell, and what we give back.
• Explore our Ecovision range, a collection of innovative products and solutions that are 100% recyclable, biodegradable and sustainable.

By Douglas Cook

Product Development Manager

Douglas Cook is a product development manager at Harrison, overseeing the design, testing, and development of innovative PoS and retail solutions, such as the world’s first Cardboard Corr-a-Clip and a range of biodegradable EcoPlastic products.

Douglas is passionate about the retail industry along with the exciting opportunities and challenges it presents. Working with his team of talented designers, he loves bringing new products and solutions to market, overcoming obstacles, and challenging the norm.

A Harrison employee for more than 15 years, Douglas has worked in several departments including purchasing and the warehouse. With a thorough understanding of product capabilities, he and the team create robust, sustainable, and cost-effective solutions.