Many Happy Returns - How Refillable and Returnable Packaging Systems Could Solve the Plastics Problem

An estimated 2.26m tonnes single-use plastic packaging goes to waste each year in the UK. The introduction of circular reusable packaging systems has the potential to significantly reduce plastics waste and reduce the overall environmental impact of the packaged product.

That packaging should be recyclable, recoverable and/or reusable has been part of EU and UK regulations since 1996. To date, reuse has largely been limited to secondary packaging (e.g. crates), some primary packaging (e.g. bottles for beverages) and niche systems (e.g. refills in zero-waste shops), although the food retail sector is increasingly implementing reuse initiatives. The New Plastics Economy Global Commitment and the UK Plastics Pact launched with the aim of making plastic packaging more circular, including specific targets for Reusable packaging systems.

Barriers to and facilitators of reuse, from both technical and behavioral perspectives, have been identified. Products where consumers are most likely to want to reuse the packaging have been determined and reuse behavior and attitudes to reuse studied. We focus on the traditional example of doorstep milk delivery, reflecting on the potential barriers and enablers to making reuse mainstream. The case highlights that the transition from reuse to single-use, and therefore a potential reverse, is entangled in a complex network of technical, social and economic factors. The life cycle analysis of a range of durable plastic materials have been investigated to find suitability for reuse and ensure that proposed reuse systems are truly sustainable over their entire life cycle, and that any additional emissions do not outweigh the benefits.