Reusable Container Materials: Mapping a Middle Path
The reuse movement stands at a critical juncture. While momentum grows for replacing single-use foodware with reusable alternatives, a significant divide exists regarding materials selection. Environmental justice and health advocates champion non-plastic solutions based on numerous environmental and health concerns—but often without addressing operational and economic realities. Reuse practitioners, on the other hand, face immediate implementation challenges that require pragmatic, affordable material choices to achieve adoption and scale.
Materials selection for reuse systems represents one of the most multifaceted challenges facing the movement today. It sits at the intersection of environmental science, operational practicality, economic viability, consumer acceptance, and regulatory compliance. No single stakeholder possesses all the expertise needed to navigate these interconnected considerations:
Material scientists understand compositional safety but may lack insight into operational realities
Reuse service providers have operational expertise but may need deeper scientific understanding
Corporate partners bring scale considerations but require guidance on materials progression
NGOs offer environmental justice and policy perspectives but benefit from practitioner experience
If we want to meaningfully accelerate reuse beyond pilots and boutique solutions, we need to bring these stakeholders together to find a middle ground so we're addressing the full flight path of the reuse transition, current operational practicalities, and immediate health of people and planet. One way to do that is to get everyone to the table to create universal standards, a process PR3 has undertaken and that Upstream is involved in.
The Reusable Packaging System Standards Panel is responsible for the development and maintenance of PR3’s reusable packaging standards. The Panel reviews, revises, approves, and evolves PR3 standards following the requirements of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The Panel ensures balance, transparency, public engagement, and consensus throughout the process—and it includes multiple representatives from all of the above-listed stakeholders.
Currently, the Container Design Standard, which includes materials, is open for public comment. When comments close, they will be reviewed and dispositioned by a work group committee of the Standards Panel. If changes are significant, another round of public comments will be opened. PR3 anticipates a final vote on the Container Design Standard to be held in the second half of 2025.
Upstream appreciates both the complexity of the materials issue as well as the rigor with which PR3 is drafting their standards. With so many key stakeholders at the table, each with unique and often conflicting perspectives, we feel confident that the consensus they reach regarding reusable container materials will provide the catalyst we need to move beyond the materials debate and truly accelerate reuse.
“When we started this process two years ago, there were people who vehemently disagreed with each other. Especially in the beginning, there was a real lack of trust. It was difficult, and over a period of time, our incredible Panel found a way. Now, when they come into these work groups, their hands go directly into the soil together. They discuss differences constructively, clearly, and have come to consensus and common ground on several of the standards, including containers and washing. It’s a real point of pride for us that we have held these disagreements together. If we didn’t have these disagreements, these standards wouldn’t work, but we have them. We listen to people, we listen to each other.”
