Reuse wins for the climate, too
As this summer of hot and wild weather makes only too clear, immediate and unprecedented action is necessary in order to rein in climate change. The focus of the conversation and suggested actions around the climate tend to center on burning fuel in our vehicles and energy for homes and buildings.
But single-use and the one-way throw-away economy also contribute significantly to climate change.
Did you know?
Of the 90% increase in global carbon emissions since 1970, food systems generate 34% of greenhouse gasses caused by human activities. Transport, packaging, retail, processing, consumption, and end-of-life disposal make up 29% of the emissions created by food systems - while food packaging alone accounts for 5.4% of all food system emissions.
The throw-away economy has also created a culture accustomed to and reliant on the production and consumption of single-use disposable products and packaging. With a global shift away from carbon-based fuel, the petrochemical industry is investing in increased plastic production infrastructure that will lead to the use of even more single-use disposable items in the future.
Packaging treated as a one-way throw-away product—rather than a service that keeps packaging repeatedly cycling through the economy—requires extensive global supply chains for production, transport, and end-of-life management.
So, how can we ensure that reuse plays a role in mitigating climate change?
Climate benefits of reuse
The plastic pollution crisis is not only overwhelming the Earth’s oceans, it poses a big threat to the climate. If plastic production and use continue to grow as planned, emissions could reach 1.34 gigatons per year by 2030—equivalent to emissions released by more than 295 new (500-megawatt) coal-fired power plants. Nearly each piece of plastic begins as a fossil fuel, and these greenhouse gas emissions are emitted at each stage of the plastic lifecycle: (1) fossil fuel extraction and transport, (2) plastic refining and manufacture, (3) managing plastic waste, and (4) its ongoing impact in our oceans, waterways, and landscape.
As the petrochemical industry sees decreasing demand for fossil fuels to power cars and provide energy, it is increasingly focusing on plastic packaging—which currently represents 40% of the total production of plastic products—as an alternative end-market. Since 2019, there have been at least 42 new plastics facilities that have opened, been under construction, or in the permitting process. These new plants will release an additional 55 million tons of greenhouse gasses, which is equivalent to the emissions from 116 average-sized (500-megawatt) coal-fired power plants.
Plastic packaging is typically single-use, ubiquitous, and difficult if not impossible to recycle. Reuse offers an alternative that can help “turn off the tap.” Reusables present an opportunity to slow down the demand for single-use plastics and the overall expansion of the plastics industry—resulting in a reduction in overall greenhouse gas emissions.
Reuse also reduces greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating the need for non-plastic, single-use alternatives. For example, the lifecycle CO2e emissions from disposable paper, plastic, and bioplastic cups are 3 to 10 times greater than those of reusable ceramic, stainless steel, and glass.
“Reusables present an opportunity to slow down the demand for single-use plastics and the overall expansion of the plastics industry—resulting in a reduction in overall greenhouse gas emissions. ”
The environmental justice side of climate & reuse
All this climate-damaging plastic pollution is not equally shared in the US—with 90% of the reported pollution from US plastics manufacturing being released into just 18 communities located mostly in Louisiana and Texas. The people who live within three miles of these petrochemical clusters earn 28% less than the average US household and are 67% more likely to be people of color.
And more impacts occur during the waste management phase. Waste incineration, often used to prevent waste from going to landfills, is usually located in marginalized communities. In 2015, the US EPA reported plastic incineration released 5.9 million metric tons of CO2e. These incinerators are not only emitting harmful pollutants in the air when they are burning the waste, but they also bring thousands of heavy diesel trucks through these communities each day to transport the waste being produced.
Reuse offers a pathway towards a Just Transition—a political and economic power shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy that is just and equitable—since it reduces the overall demand for single-use plastic. Reuse fosters strong and resilient local economies where the logistics of reusables collection, washing, and redistribution provides safe jobs. And, since reusables have lower greenhouse gas emissions over their life-cycle, they directly benefit marginalized communities who are impacted the most by pollution and the effects of climate change.
The new reuse economy is local and low-emission
Take this one stat: just looking at food service, If we shift from single-use to reuse for dine-in across the country and for take-out and food delivery in U.S. metro areas (where 82% of the U.S. population lives), 193,000 jobs will be created. These reuse systems are community-based systems. They create infrastructure and jobs in the community that cannot be outsourced. And they keep money in the community instead of shipping it out to where the disposable packaging gets manufactured or where the materials to make disposables get mined from the planet and denigrates frontline communities.
Panning out, in the broader New Reuse Economy, consumable products come in reusable packaging, and reuse infrastructure—for collection, reverse logistics, washing/sanitizing, and refilling/restocking—serves consumers in local and regional supply chains. This system is built around the concept of packaging as a service and not a product, meaning a package is created once and reused in closed, regional loops for as long as possible.
At scale, universal reuse systems need to be able to serve many companies and accommodate many types of reusable packaging. Wash and refill hubs could be built next to or as part of Municipal Recycling Facilities (MRFs) in the industrial parks outside of major metropolitan areas to serve that region. Standardization and pooling (shared packaging leasing platforms) can help reduce emissions by optimizing logistics and reducing unnecessary transport.
So, supply chains for consumable products need to be re-organized around local and regional supply and reverse logistics loops. For example, instead of soda delivered in one-way packaging from a centralized shipping hub, distilled concentrates could be transported in bulk to refill hubs, where water could be added to reusable bottles with the concentrate. The brand-owners in this case could either own or lease the packaging from a reuse service provider.
“This system is built around the concept of packaging as a service and not a product, meaning a package is created once and reused in closed, regional loops for as long as possible.”
“Diet” soda… for the climate
Let’s take a closer look at those soda bottles. Refillable glass bottles used 25 times and then recycled create less climate emissions when compared to multiple materials:
85% less than single-use glass.
57% less than aluminum cans.
70% less than single-use PET.
And 93% less energy is consumed by a refillable bottle that can be reused 25 times, as opposed to single-use bottles.
In comparing refillable PET to single-use PET, refillable PET bottles can save up to 40% of the raw materials and 50% of the greenhouse gas emissions from the production of single-use plastic bottles.
If the soda isn’t refilled from a concentrate but is bottled in a facility, keeping the transport loop tight is important. But even then, refillables will still quickly surpass single-use bottles in environmental benefits. One life cycle study found that when a transport distance of 200km between the bottling plant and the local distributor was applied, the reusable bottles had a lower impact than single-use bottles after only two uses. If this distance is increased to 400km, reusable bottles must be reused at least 4 times in order to have the same impact as single-use bottles (recall, though, that these bottles can and should be used dozens of times).
Join us: Become a climate solutioneer
No doubt about it: climate change is daunting. But there are things we can do, and the fact that the New Reuse Economy starts in our own backyards is all the more empowering. Check out our Climate & Reuse toolkit—or any of the campaigns on our website—to learn about action you can take to bring reuse to your community. And learn more in our Reuse Wins and New Reuse Economy reports, which both provide deep dives into the data that support reuse as a key to a climate friendly future where people and planet both are treated as #indisposable.