Beyond recycling: why reuse is at a tipping point
The transition from single-use towards reuse models of consumption as an integral part of the reduce-reuse-recycle agenda is gaining traction across the private and public sectors. Companies like PepsiCo and Coca Cola announced industry-leading reuse targets, and the momentum from the broader private sector continues to rapidly increase. In parallel, the European Union recently released the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) with proposed reuse targets across select industry sectors, and negotiations are ongoing at the United Nations to develop a legally binding agreement to end global plastic pollution.
As reuse momentum grows, both private and public sector players strive to further understand where reuse offers the greatest potential to deliver economic, environmental and consumer benefits. It is imperative that reuse is measured in a harmonized way to avoid fragmentation in target-setting and measurement that would slow down how quickly reuse models are adopted. Equally important, it is critical that this harmonized measurement approach is first tested in “real world settings” by corporate stakeholders, to ensure its accuracy and effectiveness before being used to inform the work of governments and standard-setting institutions, and scaled broadly across geographies, sectors, and products.
