What is the Decarbonization Potential of Reuse?
Understanding Scope-3 Emissions
Intrinsically, it makes sense that reuse would be better for the environment: it supresses resource extraction and prevents trash and litter. But traditionally, there here has been a gap in understanding the climate benefits of waste reduction: it all boils down to how we calculate emissions.
There are two ways to measure climate emissions. Calculating sector-based emissions is the traditional approach and remains the dominant method today. This approach takes a basic look at the direct emissions from manufacturing and producing goods, energy, etc. But this traditional lens is misleading, and it undermines the role packaging plays in the climate crisis.
Consumption-based, or scope 3, emissions represent an alternative lens for calculating emissions that takes into account not just the impacts of manufacturing goods but all of the embodied carbon they carry with them through their whole lifecycle—including future emissions from their disposal. While governments are increasingly interested in the connection between waste reduction and GHG emissions, it can be hard to see just how powerful reuse can be as a climate solution without taking a consumption-based emissions approach. When we use this lens, it’s clear that the majority of US emissions are embodied in the packaging and products we consume. Unfortunately, scope 3 emissions remain a blind spot for many governments.
Another missed opportunity for reuse is its inclusion in climate action plans, which not only amplifies reuse as a climate solution but also allows reuse projects to be covered by climate grants. While several states have reuse woven into their climate action plans, given its decarbonization potential, it is not as prevalent as we would like to see.
Products & packaging account for the biggest portion of U.S. GHG impacts: 37% counting only emissions from domestic sources (blue bars), and 44% counting the global emissions of goods produced abroad but consumed domestically (red bars).
Sources: Blue: US EPA, Opportunities to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions Through Materials and Land Management Practices, US EPA 530-R-09-017, September 2009. Red: Joshuah Stolaroff, Packaging and US Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Product Policy Institute, 2009. (Based on EPA data, above.)