Despite challenges in design, cost and consumer behaviour, refillable packaging offers hope for a sustainable future
At the end of every year, many dictionaries and academic organisations will publicly name their Word of the Year, a title bestowed to a new or newly-popular term that sums up the mood of the previous 12 months.
If the packaging industry named its own word of the year, it would almost certainly be ‘sustainability’.
That’s the case this year, and it was the case last year, the year before that, and the year before that. And it likely will be next year, too. And yet, for all the industry’s focus on sustainability, refillable packaging has remained a difficult nut for it to crack.
The benefits of reusable primary or secondary packaging are self-evident – as packaging is used again and again, its value is multiplied many times over before its life cycle eventually ends. However, the obstacles that must be overcome before it becomes viable are so big that many have called into question whether the ‘refill revolution’ will ever really get off the ground. However, as long as the minds of the industry are still focused on solving the refillable puzzle, there is hope that we can find a solution that works for everyone.
A challenging concept
The very concept of reusable packaging presents a dilemma. To ensure it is robust and durable enough to be reused, reusable packs require extra raw materials to make. These extra materials come with a carbon cost, meaning a pack has to be used and reused many times before this cost is offset. McKinsey estimates that to achieve an ultimate reduction in emissions, a reusable takeaway food pack may need to go through around 200 usage cycles. While this number does vary depending on application, it speaks to the fact that refillable packaging does need to be built to last in a way that regular packaging does not.
Naturally, this also involves an extra financial cost – one that will only be increased by the need to develop infrastructure to support the refillable operating model. And, while study after study shows consumers are happy to pay more for products and packaging that they perceive to be better for the environment, this sentiment has limits.
These factors both mean it is imperative for businesses to ensure their packaging is actually collected for any reuse schemes to have any hope of success. This is easier said than done. Refillable packaging is a new concept for many consumers, who have become accustomed to the single-use model through decades of experience. The likelihood of some teething problems as consumers unwittingly drop expensive reusable packs into the waste bin, or decide to take them home, is very high.
This is proved by the rollout of refillable foodservice packaging in France, the result of a new law designed to reduce single use plastic waste. Some outlets – such as McDonald’s – reported that some consumers were taking their packaging to sell online rather than returning them for collection.
Other attempts to introduce refill and reuse systems in different markets have also stuttered. Several UK retailers have trialled in-store refills in recent years – where consumers bring their own packaging to collect certain ‘loose’ goods – but have been met with a lukewarm response and have struggled to find ways to scale their operating models beyond individual trial stores.
Smoothing the refillable transition
Currently, refill models are in a chicken-and-egg situation. There is no incentive to stick with and scale up the systems that consumers do not engage with, but consumers will always struggle to engage with a system that businesses do not invest in and develop. Which should come first, the shift in consumer behaviour, or the investment?
The answer requires brands, retailers, and packaging manufacturers to all play their part in a collaborative effort. The French government’s decision to compel foodservice outlets to offer reusable containers may be an outlier at the moment, but it will not always be that way. The EU has set a target to make 10 percent of all beverage packaging reusable by 2030 as part of its Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). Many countries now require retailers to charge for plastic bags. The UK is set to introduce its deposit return scheme (DRS) in 2028. Soon, the ‘refill revolution’ may become mandatory, warts and all, and so it makes sense for businesses to help remove as many of these warts as possible to ensure a smooth transition.
Flexible packaging represents one way to help ease this transition by making it easier for consumers to form new habits around reusables without any major cost or convenience hurdles. Increasingly, retailers are stocking more affordable flexible bulk refill pouches alongside rigid packs of products such as soap and shampoo. Data has shown that consumers prefer this approach of ‘prefill’ packs to in-store refills, and they are enthusiastic about its potential to reduce plastic waste. With the right packaging made with the right barrier properties, there is no reason this approach could not be expanded to many other product categories, from dry foods to beverages and more.
While not a perfect solution, this does result in much less material entering the waste stream and contributes to lowering the carbon footprint of packaging, and as such it represents an important step in the right direction.
This kind of incremental change is the only way to solve problems as complex and multi-layered as the ones faced by refillable packaging. Change is always challenging, and in this case, change is required on multiple fronts; consumer behaviour, packaging design, and waste management infrastructure.
The exact form the refill revolution takes is still up in the air. But the world’s biggest brands, retailers, and consumers have all shown enthusiasm for it to take place. There is proof that it can be made to work in some form. All that remains is to deliver it – and with the support of flexible packaging to ease the transition, this imposing challenge looks much more achievable.
