Key findings from a new report on scaling reuse, plus more from Upstream’s Reuse Solutions Network.

Key insights into the state of the circular economy and the future of reuse.

The beverage sector is one of the ripest sectors for reuse. Leaving out closed systems like reuse for on-site dining, more beverage reuse/refill systems operate at scale than all other open systems.

Upstream CEO Matt Prindiville just returned from GreenBiz’s Circularity Conference. It was a sold-out 3 day affair with more than a thousand sustainability professionals from virtually every consumer brand, plus representatives from the rest of their value chain. Here are three valuable takeaways from the conference.

Even though Extended Producer Responsibility has in theory been about creating a circular economy for packaging, in practice, the only goals that have been applied in legislation so far are recycling targets. The effect has been increased recycling where EPR systems are in place, but no actual reduction in the generation of packaging waste. We can change this.