"Imagine you have just finished a delicious to-go meal or morning coffee, or used the last drop of moisturizer. Without thinking too hard, you may be ready to toss another container into the trash, adding to the 82 million tons of packaging waste generated in the U.S. each year. But have you ever wondered where that container came from, and where it's going next? We did."
"Closed Loop Partners' Center for Circular Economy teamed up with the Columbia Climate School's Research Program on Sustainability Policy & Management to build a novel tool to rigorously assess the carbon emissions and cost implications of a wide range of single-use and reusable packaging designs. The Center, an innovation hub that works with leading consumer goods companies and retailers to reinvent packaging and recovery systems to reduce waste, now uses the tool's comprehensive metrics and insights to guide the deployment and optimization of more sustainable packaging systems. For example, in Petaluma, the NextGen Consortium-an industry collaboration managed by the Center-launched the Petaluma Reusable Cup Project, a citywide reuse initiative in collaboration with global food and beverage brands and local city government (see the in-depth report here or watch a summary here)."
A collaborative tool assesses carbon emissions and cost implications across single-use and reusable packaging designs. The tool generates comprehensive metrics and insights to inform deployment and optimization of sustainable packaging systems. The Petaluma Reusable Cup Project made reusable cups the default across a citywide network, used dedicated purple reuse bins, and delegated washing to a central facility before redistribution. The assessment tool can be customized for various packaging shapes, materials, and market applications and helps evaluate collection, washing, redistribution, material choices, and the carbon and cost trade-offs between reuse and single-use systems.
Read at State of the Planet
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