This article first appeared in 2009, updated in 2022.
A reusable packaging revolution?
So what is a revolution? According to www.dictionary.com, a revolution can be a violent upheaval, a “…a sudden, marked change in something.”
A revolution of course can be something far less than earth jolting. It can also entail the predictable return of an item, or as dictionary.com puts it, “… a procedure or course, as if in a circuit, back to a starting point.” The latter sounds a lot like we come to expect from reusable packaging in terms of use and reuse. In a closed loop this may involve a return to the original shipper. In an open loop, the return of the packaging will probably be to a new producer, geographically closer at hand to the point where the container was last emptied, who will fill the container and ship it once more.
Therefore, a revolution is both a single, circuitous journey, and it is also an upheaval – a transformational adjustment that leaves the order of things forever different. For the purpose of this blog we argue that the use of reusable packaging will be the cause of such a transformation through the collective voice of thousands and millions of reusable transport items being used and reused, or commissioned, decommissioned, and then re-commissioned – changing the world irrevocably, one reusable container and pallet trip at a time. At the end of the day, it is a symphony of small decisions that in aggregate will help divert solid waste, carbon footprint, and enhance supply chains, helping all the while to propel us to a more sustainable future.
So how do we get there from here? Clearly, in some applications, we are already there. In industries such as automotive, for example, the use of reusable packaging has been well established. In other areas of industry such as construction, or in supply chains that stretch globally, the challenge of reverse logistics looms as a significant hurdle.
The Reusable Packaging Revolution Is Friendly
The use of expendable packaging is widespread and dominant. We don’t mean to suggest that the world order will suddenly change, only that the use of reusable packaging can play a much more vital role in reducing solid waste and improving operational efficiencies if we embrace those opportunities. Dictionary.com includes in its definition that revolutions are often violent. Not this one. The reusable revolution is friendly, often offering productivity and ergonomic advantages, not to mention cost per trip efficiencies as well as other benefits. And better yet, it has already begun.