Sustainability of reusable packaging–Current situation and trends

TLDR

Packaging is essential for product distribution, consumes about 40 % of plastics and 50 % of paper in Europe, and has significant environmental and cost impacts, prompting consideration of reusable packaging to reduce these effects. The study aims to review reusable packaging trends and literature to generate insights into the current state of the art and identify research and development directions. The authors conduct a literature review of reusable packaging trends and related studies. The review helps clarify key factors influencing the design and environmental impacts of more sustainable packaging systems.

Abstract

Packaging plays an important role in safely distributing products throughout today's society and supply chains. With a consumption of about 40% of plastics and 50% of paper in Europe, the packaging sector is a large user of materials. Packaging has a lot of environmental impacts, while it also represents a significant cost in the current supply system. Reusable packaging has been suggested as an option to significantly reduce environmental impacts. In this paper, we review the trends in reusable packaging and the literature on reusable packaging to generate insights into the current state-of-the-art knowledge and identify directions for research and development. This can help to better understand the key factors underlying the design and impacts of more sustainable packaging systems.