According to a report published on Monday 7 December by Zero Waste Europe and Reloop, in partnership with the University of Utrecht, reusable packaging has a carbon footprint up to 85% smaller than single-use packaging.
The review compares 32 Life Cycle Assessments of 11 types of packaging, and concludes that:
- reusable glass bottles produce 85% less carbon emissions than a single-use glass bottle, 75% less than plastic (PET) and 57% less than aluminium cans;
- a reusable plastic crate produces 88% less carbon emissions than a single-use cardboard box, 64% less than a box made of mixed materials and 5% less than a wooden crate;
- the mode of transport for packaging and the distance travelled make the largest contribution to the environmental impact of a package.
To improve the environmental sustainability of reusable packaging, the report’s recommendations include standardisation of packaging, implementation of deposit return schemes and changes in the way packaging is transported, all of which can bring down the carbon emissions of reusable containers.
According to Larissa Copello of Zero Waste Europe, policymakers need “to act and move away from the current overpacked culture and towards more conscious production and consumption”.
The report can be found at: https://bit.ly/3glyMRg (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)