Packaging

Reuse systems are an essential solution to single-use packaging. Reuse is a system that designs products and packaging to be used multiple times throughout their lifecycle.

This sustainable approach minimises waste by enabling items to be returned to producers and reused by different users for the same purpose.

With single-use packaging dominating most sectors, the environmental impact is enormous, leading to a record level of resource use and packaging waste.

The average person in the EU generated 188.7kg of packaging waste in 2021, fueling the climate, biodiversity, and pollution crisis. Embracing reuse packaging systems offers a crucial pathway to mitigate these crises and promote a more sustainable future.

reusable bottles and a woman refilling her reusable container

Policy is helping shape the future of packaging

The revision of the EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) has been at the core of the #WeChooseReuse campaign, with more than 100,000 signatories and supporters calling for strong and ambitious legislation that will prevent the use and sale of unnecessary single-use packaging and support and uplift reusable and refill packaging systems.

Cities currently burdened with the extensive management and disposal of single-use plastics and disproportionate costs for packaging materials flooding the market benefit significantly from promoting reuse within their municipalities.

Businesses can drive environmental sustainability by adopting well-designed reuse systems. This shift presents opportunities for companies to explore new value streams, including sanitation services, material production innovations, and enhanced branding strategies, thereby aligning profitability with environmental responsibility.

Reuse can help consumers curb packaging waste and empower consumers to contribute to resource conservation with every purchase or reuse.

Reuse in Action

Intersectionality of Reuse

Reuse systems are already in place, and members, organisations, networks, SMEs, and local governments are already implementing successful initiatives across Europe.

Reuse systems must be accessible to ensure participation from all social and economic backgrounds. The design and implementation of reuse systems must involve local communities as well as a diversity of groups that will potentially be affected by their implementation.

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Food Delivery Sector

The food delivery sector is growing, and with it, so is single-use packaging, leading to more plastic waste and pollution.

To protect human and environmental health and achieve climate targets, we need a delivery sector that uses toxic-free reusable packaging while ensuring fair conditions for workers.

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Resources on Packaging

Packaging

Comerç Verd

Certification for zero waste shops. On the website there is a map of zero waste shops in Catalonia and Balearic Islands where consumers can buy without packaging, and there is a page for shops where they can find resource and...

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