A Europe-wide campaign has been launched to press home the commercial and environmental advantages of using repurposed materials in the packaging industry.

The non-profit New European Resource Alliance (New ERA; Brussels; www.newreusealliance.eu) and the Dutch online environmental platform Planet Reuse (Den Haag; https://planetreuse.eu/) are running the campaign, called rEUse, to throw the spotlight on the policy debate around reuse systems currently being discussed in the proposed EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).

New ERA members include Spanish plastics technology centre Aimplas (Valencia; www.aimplas.net), industry group Reusable Packaging Europe (Brussels; https://rpeurope.eu), and London-based packaging consultancy Vytal.

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The rEUse campaign is composed of four key elements:

• a video highlighting the key elements needed to transit towards a truly circular economy in packaging
• a report covering independent scientific publications, proving reusable packaging is more environmentally sound than single use, and business cases for various market segments where reuse is an alternative today
• four factsheets exploring the environmental and economic reasons why reuse targets are suitable for the takeaway, beverage, e-commerce, and transport packaging sectors
• a repository of relevant scientific studies to which the report, case studies and factsheets are built upon.

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In a statement, New ERA said the continued growth of single-use packaging waste would require increasing investment in sorting and recycling facilities. “Giving reuse the green light with ambitious targets in the PPWR will force all stakeholders to reassess the status-quo and foster investments into truly closed loops business models that require facilities to manufacture, clean and stock reuse containers that ultimately will benefit the planet, SMEs and communities,” it added.