This includes between £314 million and £577 million in savings across overall system costs versus single use.
It also identified £136 million in potential annual saving for producers who are in the scope of extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR), and a 95% reduction in CO2 emissions.
Conducted by GoUnpackaged, the research was developed with input from an Advisory Panel made up of Berry, Biffa, CHEP, DEFRA, Ecosurety, Innovate UK, Ocado Retail, Reath, Suez, Tesco, WRAP and WWF.
The Advisory Panel said in a joint statement: “The modelling results show, for the first time, an evidenced view of reuse working at scale in the UK for grocery retail, enabling industry and government to make insightful decisions about how to move forwards to co-create the necessary transition to reuse in the UK.
“We look forward to bringing the value chain together in June to kick-start the discussion of the next practical steps towards wide scale reuse in the UK.”
The study looks at how moving towards reuse for 30% of goods might be possible across multiple product categories and various reuse scenarios.
It found that:
- A £136m annual saving for producers in pEPR costs, for the products in scope
- A £314m to £577m annual saving in overall system costs vs. single-use, equal to a 12-22% saving
- A 95% reduction in CO2 emissions, for the products in scope
- 95% reduction in packaging materials and waste, for the products in scope, saving more than 300,000 tonnes of packaging waste per year
- 13,000 net new jobs
The 30% reuse target could be achieved by converting just 18 priority categories, using 30 standardised packaging types.
These 18 categories are:
- Home cooking (sauces, dried products e.g. rice, pasta, pulses, fresh & premium rice & pulses, salt & gravy granules, spices & condiments)
- Beers, wines & spirits
- Coffee (beans & ground)
- Detergents & softeners
- Bath & shower products
- Dishwashing
- Oils & vinegars
- Milk
- Household cleaning
- Pizza (chilled, cook at home)
- Biscuits & sweet snacks
- Cereals & breakfast foods
- Fruit
- Fruit juice
- Ready meals
- Tea
- Pasta & pasta sauces (fresh)
- Yoghurts
‘Reuse works’
Rob Spencer, co-founder of GoUnpackaged, said: “It’s time to move on from debate and focus on the facts: Reuse works.
“Our study shows that switching just 30% of goods to reusable packaging is a huge opportunity for producers and retailers to win – environmentally, financially, and even societally, creating jobs and reducing waste.
“The data speaks for itself – taking all kinds of scenarios into account, our robust, industry-validated modelling shows the switch to reusable packaging will be universally positive.
“Reuse is the only viable option to significantly reduce packaging emissions, the volume of valuable materials we’re using, and the vast amount of packaging waste the UK collectively produces.
“That’s why we’re calling on the industry and government to work together and take action to move towards 30% reuse, starting now. There’s no excuse to delay tackling the single-use packaging crisis any longer.”
