Food and drink companies could slash their EPR bills by over 90% if the UK adopts a new reuse model, new modelling has claimed.
The study, backed by an advisory panel including representatives from Tesco and Ocado, looked at ways in which trials of different types of reuse technology could be scaled up across the country.
It claims the results could be a massive saving for producers. The study forecast that moving to 30% of reuse would knock £136m off the bill for products in scope for extended producer responsibility (EPR) fees.
It predicted the radical shift could lead to a 95% reduction in packaging materials and waste for the products in scope – equating to more than 300,000 tonnes of packaging waste per year.
The study was led by reuse experts GoUnpackaged, which has been involved in trials of reuse by a raft of retailers. It said it was now vital to look at ways a shift to reuse could be scaled up.
Defra, Wrap and WWF were among others on the panel overseeing the data, which modelled different ways in which reuse could be upscaled, across 25 different product categories.
The research recommends three potential models that the UK could adopt to create the biggest cost reductions and impact on packaging.
It said a switch to producers collecting packaging for reuse using an online system would be most effective, with a 29% reduction in costs for the products studied. The researchers admitted, however, online currently lacked the capacity to be the full answer to the problem.
A system using third party providers to collect products for reuse at kerbside would cut costs by 22%, while using local authority collections could slash costs by 12%, the study found.
However, the solutions would not come cheap. The study suggested there was a need for a £149m-per-year investment for 10 years to drive reuse, coming in at a total of £1.5bn.
However, it pointed out that represented just 9.3% of the annual projected EPR bill.
The results of the study come with Wrap planning to make a switch to reuse at scale one of the key planks of a new Plastics Pact Mark II.
In a report in November, the climate change body said there was a “clear appetite” across the industry to agree on new standardised principles for an “at scale” rollout of the technology, despite a series of recent setbacks.
“It’s time to move on from debate and focus on the facts: Reuse works,” said Rob Spencer, co-founder of GoUnpackaged.
“Our study shows that switching just 30% of goods to reusable packaging is a huge opportunity for producers and retailers.
“Reuse is the only viable option to significantly reduce packaging emissions, the volume of valuable materials we’re using, and the vast amount of packaging waste the UK collectively produces.
“That’s why we’re calling on the industry and government to work together and take action to move towards 30% reuse, starting now. There’s no excuse to delay tackling the single-use packaging crisis any longer.”
In a joint statement, the study’s advisory panel said: “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 forwards to co-create the necessary transition to reuse in the UK.”
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