What does an interoperable reuse system look like?
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One of the current challenges in scaling reuse is the lack of widespread infrastructure—the wash facilities (i.e., buildings) and the equipment (vehicles, dishwashing machines, etc.) that make the collection, wash, and redistribution logistics of reusable packaging possible. One way to begin to surmount this challenge is through a shared, interoperable system for reuse and recycling.
As EPR and DRS programs proliferate across the US & Canada, there is an opportunity to leverage existing municipal recycling infrastructure to create system-wide efficiencies for collection and sorting of both reusable and recyclable packaging. At the same time, integrating reuse into pre-existing recycling and deposit-return systems can facilitate a societal shift to adopting more reusable packaging by providing a system that is as easy as rolling your reusables to the curb or dropping them at a depot, just like trash and recycling.
What does this look like? Recyclable and reusable packaging can share collection points, transportation systems, and sorting and processing facilities (known as Municipal Recycling Facilities, or MRFs). Wash hubs would need to be built but can be situated on-site with processing facilities. This way, it is easy to remedy any sorting issues—e.g., returnable packaging mixed up with recyclables can be sent to the wash hub, and recyclables mixed with returnables can be sent next door to the processing center. It is also important to note that in this system, all returnable reusable packaging uses the same infrastructure, regardless of brand or type of packaging.
With funding and incentives coming from EPR programs, plus creative financial mechanisms like municipal bonds, we can create this infrastructure, integrate reusable packaging into the system, and accelerate the reuse economy.
For more details on how this system can and should be built, see Embracing Reuse in EPR Packaging Programs, as well as the story of a feasibility study conducted by Don’t Waste Durham examining if reusable and recyclable packaging could share infrastructure.
