Reuse
Joint Policy Paper on Reusable Packaging & COVID-19
On June 4th, Zero Waste Europe and Reloop released a joint policy paper to address the situation of reusable packaging and refillable systems in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. While industry uses this current health crisis to continue pushing for single-use products and packaging, there is no evidence that disposable packaging contributes to the spread…
Read More7th European REUSE Conference
Brussels • September 2019 On September 24th, Reloop – in association with the European Association of Beverage Wholesalers (CEGROBB), the Environmental Action Germany (Deutsche Umwelthifle e.V.), and the Association of Small and Independent Breweries in Europe (S.I.B.) – hosted the 7th European REUSE Conference. The aim of the conference was to examine how reuse systems…
Read MoreAre refillable beer bottles again possible in Australia?
As in other countries, when single-use drink containers such as aluminum cans and plastic bottles became common in Australia in the 1970s, refillable containers and the systems developed to recover and refill them went by the wayside. The environment bore the brunt of this change, with beverage container litter in states, aside from South Australia,…
Read MoreDispatches from Europe: Packaging reuse in the spotlight
Last year, Collins Dictionary named “single-use” its word of the year, and it’s not difficult to understand why. Efforts to reduce marine litter and eliminate plastic waste were some of the key themes of 2018. And in fact the European Union Parliament and Council ended the year with a provisional agreement to phase out problematic…
Read MorePlastic-Free Periods: Menstrual Products & Plastic Pollution
by Samantha Millette & Clarissa Morawski If you’ve followed environmental news in the last year or so, then you know that the negative impact of single-use plastics has become a hot topic. From bans and taxes on plastic bags and takeaway coffee cups to policies on reduced plastics packaging, a growing number of countries, as…
Read MoreReloop’s Position Paper on the upcoming European Commission’s Strategy on Plastics
Reloop welcomes the European Commission’s announcement to publish a Strategy on Plastics in early 2018. This position paper aims to provide guidance and support on the development of an ambitious Plastics Strategy in order to help achieve a real circular economy of plastics and reduce its negative impacts on the environment. Click here to download…
Read MoreAre we ready for reusable packaging?
20 June 2017 – Single-use packaging is easy to spot. A short walk along a beach, anywhere in the world, will reveal the consequences of our throwaway culture as each tide brings in a fresh layer of debris, most of it single-use plastics. In some countries, the growing pressure to do something about single-use packaging…
Read MoreRefillable Alliance Releases Joint Position Paper ‘Reuse’
The following is a Joint Press Release from the Environmental Action Germany (Deutsche Umwelthilfe) and three other environmental and economic organizations that have joined forces to promote reuse. European Circular Economy Package: Waste prevention targets and separate reuse quotas necessary Organisers of the sixth European ReUse-Conference in Brussels call for the intensification and development of reuse…
Read MoreDeposit-Return Motivates Voluntary Switch to Refillables
8 February 2017 – One of the most compelling arguments in favour of deposit-return for single-use beverage containers is that it opens the logistical opportunities for some local producers, where feasible, to make the switch to refillable bottles. A recent article published in Resource Recycling magazine (copied below) presents a perfect real-world example of how establishing a…
Read MorePolicy Instruments to Promote Refillable Beverage Containers
Refillable beverage containers have an important role to play in the circular economy. Aside from the obvious environmental benefits, refillable systems offer tremendous economic benefits in terms of material cost savings and job creation, which are multiplied with each refill. Despite these benefits, the market share of beverages in refillable containers has declined rapidly in jurisdictions…
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