The circular economy is something that we are constantly going towards. What that means is, the packaging goes in a circular manner and doesn’t end at the dump to break down. instead, it’s constantly being used, until the packaging cannot be used anymore.
Reusing and recycling are two of the most common ones, because it allows you to give the packaging a new lease on life and incentivizes people to start to recycle better.
Single-use packaging might seem like a good idea at first, but the problem is, there is very little long-term sustainability that comes with this. Having a sustainable system that prioritizes the overall longevity and efficiency of your resources is so important. Developing this system requires a little bit of planning, but here, we’ll talk about how you can make packaging that will be reusable again and again, and fits into the return and recycling schemes.
How to Make Your Circular Economy Packaging Reusable
Now, to make this packaging reusable, there’s a few things that you need to do.
First, you’ve got to focus on the design. Make it durable of course, but also reusable again and again. so when it’s done, a person can use this, and it fits into the refill and return schemes.
One example is reusable water bottles. Using a harder bioplastic, as opposed to something that will break down after a couple of uses makes it more circular. Opting for cardboard boxes, rather than just the plastic packaging of the past, you will definitely find a use for this, and it definitely fits into these return schemes.
Close Up Of Woman Refilling Glass Bottle With Liquid Soap In Sustainable Zero Waste Plastic Free Store
The other thing to consider as well is to use materials and systems that will be easily reused as well. One example of this is the cardboard boxes, as they are very sustainable, and can be used again and again. aluminum is another one, because you can get a lot of this, and it’s easy to refill and recycle.
Make sure that the materials are easy to clean out and use again. or, if you plan to reuse it, are made in a manner that’s very easy for one to utilize the benefits of such again and again. overall, if the quality isn’t compromised, you’re in the right place, and you definitely will want to use this type of packaging.
Why use this Packaging
The big thing with this reusable and recyclable packaging that’s used in closed-loop systems is that you’re reducing waste. We spend billions every single year just tossing out packaging. That’s all items that could be used and put back into the system. Making the systems easy to reuse or recycle the times without compromising the quality is really important, but if you are able to create sustainability efforts, you will reduce so much waste, and sustainability will be possible.
There are a few challenges to this, however. The first is consumer convenience. While it might seem like a good idea in theory, so many consumers want something easy to dispose of, so plan accordingly.
The second is infrastructure. Some systems might seem like a good idea, but the current infrastructure doesn’t accommodate for this.
Finally you’ve got your costs to think about. Promoting this type of circular packaging is expensive, especially for smaller companies.
But when you integrate circular packaging, you reduce so much of the waste that comes with this, and in turn slowly create consumer acceptance of such. it will make everything so much easier, and really make reusable and refillable packaging something that will benefit so many parties, no matter what the case.
