New data shows the commercial and environmental benefits of reuse at scale
By Catherine Conway, Co-Director, GoUnpackaged, a Business Member of Plastic Pollution Coalition
While packaging can enable the safe and efficient movement of goods within the global food system, and can play a key role in avoiding food waste and extending shelf life, much of today’s packaging is unfortunately made of harmful and wasteful single-use plastic. About 40% of plastic produced today is used to make single-use plastic packaging. This rapidly used and discarded plastic pollutes the environment and our bodies.
To eliminate single-use plastic we need circular systems built into our economies, especially for packaging. This means prioritizing plastic-free reuse for the products, categories, and use cases in which it makes environmental and economic sense. In addition to being better for human and environmental health; reducing single-use plastic will reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, drive lower emissions and pollution, and improve materials security in the UK and beyond.
The team at reuse specialists GoUnpackaged set out in September 2024 to answer the question: how do we know what the right products, categories and use cases are for reuse? The results of their research, published in June 2025, show that reuse at scale for the UK’s grocery retail market can deliver £314m – £577m (12-22%) savings per year in end-to-end system costs, with a 95% reduction in C02e emissions, materials and waste, for the products in scope, compared to the single-use status quo.
How the Research was Carried Out
The aim of the study was to show feasible ways to scale reuse. GoUnpackaged used a data-driven view of the cost and scale of the infrastructure changes needed to achieve 30% reuse market share, with a 97% return rate (to represent a well-functioning, mature reuse system).
GoUnpackaged compared three different packaging scenarios: single-use, reusables (or “pre-fill”), and refill in-store. For the potential reusable systems, four different return scenarios were considered:
- “Citizen Return” – individuals returning reusables to store
- “Online” – delivery and collection by existing online retail delivery vehicles
- “3PL Household” – household collection by a Third Party Logistics provider (3PL) as a new/ additional service
- “LA (Municipal) Household” – household collection by the Local Authority (LA) as part of existing municipal collection
For robustness, a selection of 25 common product categories (e.g. dishwashing, milk, ready meals, yogurts etc.) and 215 representative product types (e.g. a 250ml handwash/shower gel with a dispenser) were run through the model.
The results show the impacts of each reuse scenario compared to the current single-use scenario, for the same volume, according to:
- Total Costs (£) – an “end to end” (E2E) cost to set up, and annually run, each scenario at 30%
- Cost (£) per case – an E2E cost per case, for easier cost comparison between scenarios
- Total Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) costs per scenario
- % Change vs Scenario 1 (Single-Use)
- CO2e emissions (tonnes) per scenario
- Packaging materials/waste (tonnes) per scenario.
Key Findings
The findings show:
- Reuse is the only viable method for producers to reduce their pEPR costs which will continue to increase with all single-use packaging scenarios: reuse offers an average 94% reduction in pEPR costs per item switched.
- Reuse is the only way to reduce packaging-related CO2e emissions, the amount of new (virgin) materials going through the system, and the resulting waste. This equates to a 95% reduction for the volume switched, which cannot be achieved through single-use, or single-use based Deposit Return System scenarios.
- There are three scaled reuse scenarios that cost less for the supply chain to manage than single-use:
- Online
- 3PL Household
- LA (Municipal) Household
- Reuse goals are within reach: 30% reuse could be achieved by converting just 18 priority categories of products, using ~30 standardised packaging types.
- Reuse can result in economic growth and job creation: the results showed the potential for 13,000 net new jobs in the UK.
How Will All This Be Paid For?
GoUnpackaged’s research shows that, if reusable packaging makes up 30% of the market, three reuse scenarios would be delivered with cost savings in comparison with single-use. However, we need to develop reuse infrastructure (collection, sortation and washing logistics) which represents an investment cost – so how do we fund the transition to 30%?
There are many possible routes to fund the transition to 30% reuse. One of which could be through the UK’s new Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) framework.
Reuse reduces pEPR fees due to the reduction of packaging materials and waste in the system that should, in the long term, drive down Local Authority (Municipal) costs and be welcomed by producers as a visible return on investment (ROI) in the form of ever-reducing pEPR costs.
Where Do We Go Next?
The report makes recommendations for industry and government to work together to:
1. Co-design a Transition plan to 30% reuse by 2035 by coordinating retailer operations, supply chain logistics, waste management and Local Authorities (Municipalities).
2. Bring all activities together under a long-term Reuse Strategy with 4 Nations (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) alignment, including 2030, 2035, 2040, and 2050 reuse targets for grocery retail to drive staged action by industry.
The evidence presented by this research shows not only that a reuse future is possible but that reuse brings significant commercial and environmental —and additionally, health—benefits. It is time for industry and the government to commit to a target for reuse in the UK and take the necessary steps to achieve it.
“The modelling results show, for the first time, an evidenced view of reuse working at scale in the UK for grocery retail, enabling industry and government to make insightful decisions about how to move forward to co-create the necessary transition to reuse in the UK. We look forward to bringing the value chain together to kickstart the discussion of the next practical steps towards wide-scale reuse in the UK.”
– A joint statement from the Research Advisory Panel
I absolutely love this but my faith and hope for united and pragmatic change from industry and government is somewhat lacking. They will drag their feet so long as people keep spending money in their stores. Until consumer behaviour changes I don’t think they care enough to invest in real change. Is it time for NGOs to invest more energy in a bottom up approach? Imagine if every household had access to a reuse refill shop within walking /public transport distance? Cut off the money, remove their power, force change as they see their profit dwindling. Then see how quick they act.