The Pathway to Reuse in Retail

Upstream’s Sydney Harris is joined by the US Plastics Pact’s Olivia Merritt Fitzgerald and Sustainable Packaging Coalition’s Olga Kachook to discuss the growing drive for reuse among consumer brands. They share the details of two recent reports that map a path for bringing reuse to the retail setting and which product lines are best poised for the switch—plus the USPP’s initiative to turn these findings into action. The key to success? Standardization and pre-competitive collaboration—both of which, our guests are happy to report, are in the works.

Resources: 

• Sustainable Packaging Coalition: Framework for Scaling Reuse
• Closed Loop Partners & US Plastics Pact: Getting Ready for Reuse in Retail
• USPP Retail Reuse Initiative one-pager
• Listeners interested in participating in the US Plastic Pact’s retail reuse initiative should contact Olivia Merritt Fitzgerald: OMFitzGerald@usplasticspact.org 
• Listeners interested in exploring refill models should contact Olga Kachook: olga.kachook@greenblue.org 
• Upstream: Embracing Reuse in U.S. Packaging EPR Programs
• PR3 Standards
• Episode 88: Setting the Standard for Reuse with PR3
• Episode 180: The Quest for a Universal Reuse Symbol

Get involved:

• Join the Reuse Solutions Network
• Support Upstream to make sure these stories continue to be heard and the reuse economy continues to grow — thank you!