CHICAGO — The slogan “reduce, reuse, recycle” represents the three strategies employed to reduce waste and preserve the environment. But lately, the emphasis on “reuse” is catching fire around the world as consumers, legislators and industry recognize the role reusables can play in protecting the environment, said Tim Debus, president and chief executive officer of the Reusable Packaging Association (RPA), Washington, DC.

“I can say today that there is truly an awakening that’s taking place around the world,” Debus told the audience as he spoke at PACK Expo International 2024, held Nov. 3-6 at McCormick Place in Chicago. “There’s clarity that’s forming about reusable packaging and the reuse of the products that we produce, taking the resources and the capital and making sure that we can leverage what we’ve made over and over again and put it into a continuous function of utility for reusable packaging that’s driving value in our case, in the supply chain.”

Sustainability was the predominant theme at the 2024 PACK EXPO International show, which featured Sustainability Central, a curated offering of new and expanded show resources and educational programs aimed at helping suppliers of packaging and processing equipment reduce energy consumption, minimize waste and reduce the carbon footprint throughout their supply chains.

The RPA hosted The Learning Center, a series of educational presentations and panel discussions about reusable packaging solutions. Debus launched the discussion about reusable packaging by explaining four megatrends shaping the industry and demand for reusables.

“Each one of them individually is very powerful at tilting the dynamics of reusable packaging in the market, about providing the incentives and the encouragement to explore reuse,” Debus said. “But taken together, it really reaches levels unseen and untapped as far as value that can be created associated with reuse systems in the marketplace.”

First, driving interest and awareness of reuse strategies is technology, which is a critical piece of asset management.

“It’s about tracking and tracing,” Debus added. “It’s about having visibility of your business — in this case of your supply chain and the distribution of your goods all the way from start to finish,” and within the technology category and second in the megatrends influencing the space is artificial intelligence (AI).

“And that’s where I see reusable packaging as a tremendous opportunity to digitize the economy, digitize the supply chain, and the products that we produce in reusable packaging,” he said.

Utilizing smart and connected, reusable packaging products that can last for years through multiple uses will be a windfall for record keeping and quality control.

“It’s very exciting, and think about the massive amounts of pallets and totes and bins out there,” Debus said. “Well, artificial intelligence is going to allow for the understanding and interpretation of all of that big data into things like predictive analysis, inventory management, quicker response times to adjust to disruptions in the marketplace.

“It’s truly going be breakthrough levels of a value proposition associated with smart and connected, reusable packaging that leads to resilience, right? The whole agility of your operations is when you know where your products are, where they’re going. You know when they’re going to arrive; you know what conditions they’re under,” he explained.

Public policy is the third megatrend that will support the structure for reuse as a sustainability strategy. Debus said legislation at the state and federal levels has the potential to incentivize companies to examine source reduction in their packaging. Debus used the United Nations plastics treaty negotiations (with the last negotiation session later this month in Korea) which aim to introduce legally binding rules that regulate plastic production and secure commitments around the world in recycling practices, source reduction and reuse. The UN is committed to producing an agreement by the end of 2024.

“In fact, just earlier last week, 10 US states sent a letter to the Biden administration and the negotiators on the US side saying, we need to be more aggressive in terms of having stipulations within a treaty that are going to really focus on source reduction, including reuse systems,” Debus said.

Finally, working from the adage that what can’t be measured can’t be managed, metrics is the fourth megatrend. Industry will need to be able to measure the emissions associated with product inventory in order to report progress from established baselines. For example, technology tied to reusable packaging can easily measure environmental impacts by taking the data from a pallet. A container can relay the transportation impacts on the environment with technology that tracks the miles it’s traveling, for another example.

“And when you have these smart products and a digital economy, a digital supply chain, you’re able to access this data that’s going to allow for more accurate and trusting data in terms of reporting your performance in your operations,” Debus said. “So when you look at technology and automation and the excitement associated with reusable packaging, you layer on public policy and corporations needing to address sustainability, social metrics and environmental initiatives [there are] a tremendous collection macro forces that are, I think, ultimately going be driving us and take that roller coaster ride down in which there’s a tremendous amount of benefits to reap as you’re able to achieve economic growth.”

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