Community of Practice Reusable Packaging

One of the potential solutions to make packaging more sustainable is to switch from single use to reuse. Reusable packaging has the potential to reduce the environmental impact of packaging. However, with the exception of a number of packaging types, reuse is still in its infancy.

The CoP Reusable Packaging consists of parties who want to make their packaging more sustainable by studying and implementing reusable options. Supermarkets, brand owners, service providers, start-ups, research institutes and NGOs all participate in this KIDV community. As a collective, the CoP will investigate and discuss relevant themes, share information and set up and support pilots.

Challenges that the CoP Reusable Packaging focuses on include consumer behaviour, measures to assure food safety / hygiene of reused packaging, legal aspects such as liability with regard to food safety and the logistics involved in return systems. Other issues relate to the calculation of environmental impact and economic profitability when comparing reusable packaging to disposable packaging.

The aim of this project is to provide producers and importers of packaging and packaged products with concrete tools to investigate and/or implement the use of reusable packaging. The CoP adopts the following approach:

1. Gaining insight into the most important external influences on the transition to reusable packaging, such as relevant legislation and consumer preferences. 
2. Analysing the impact of quality and safety aspects on the use of reusable packaging.
3. Exploring the hurdles and opportunities in consumer behaviour with regards to reusable packaging.
4. Analysing the importance and influence of logistics and administration on the use of reusable packaging.
5. Providing insight into the factors that influence the environmental and financial break-even point of a reusable packaging compared to a single-use version. 

Resulting best and worst practices are shared within the CoP.

Would you like to be part of this Community of Practice Reusable Packaging? Please contact project manager Marcel Keuenhof (m.keuenhof@kidv.nl). 

For interesting discussions or inspiring news in the field of reusable packaging, you can also become a member of the CoP-LinkedIn group. Here you can also get in touch with participating parties in the CoP. Submit an application here. In addition, you can join Planet Reuse, Europe's first reusable packaging platform. Sign up for Planet Reuse via the website. 

This CoP organised a number of webinars on different aspects of reusable packaging. You can access the recordings by clicking the following links: 

• Logistics and administration (only available in Dutch)
• Regulation, saftey and liability (only available in Dutch)
• Consumer behaviour (only available in Dutch)
• Calculation tool for CO2 impact of reusable packaging (recording in English)
• Trends and opportunities for reusable B2B-packaging 
• Reusable shipping packaging in e-commerce (only available in Dutch) 
• Reusable packaging in France 
• Reusable packaging in Germany
• Reusable packaging in the United Kingdom

Publications and tools

KIDV has had a number of studies carried out and has developed a tool:

• May 2020: Sustainability of reusable packaging (study by CRiSP) 
• July 2020: Standardisation of reusable packaging (study by Shared Packaging) 
• December 2020: Effects of frequent cleaning on reusable packaging (study by YoYo.BoostReuse)
• December 2020: KIDV Calculation Tool for CO2 impact of reusable packaging (developed by Utrecht University and Partners for Innovation)

Further relevant and interesting studies on reusable packaging can be found in the library, please click here.