The ninth edition of CM Consulting’s Who Pays What report was released in October 2018. Produced since 2002, the report provides a comprehensive overview of container recovery programs in each province, including the latest data on performance and costs. The report also delves into the economic and environmental benefits of beverage container reuse and recycling, processes, end-markets, […]
Reuse
Dispatches from Europe: Are we ready for reusable packaging?
20 June 2017 – Single-use packaging is easy to spot. A short walk along a beach, anywhere in the world, will reveal the consequences of our throwaway culture as each tide brings in a fresh layer of debris, most of it single-use plastics. In some countries, the growing pressure to do something about single-use packaging has […]
Deposit Return: How it Works
If we look internationally—Europe, US, Canada, Middle East, China, and Australia—massive efforts are underway to introduce or expand existing programs, as governments recognize deposit-return as a modern solution to litter caused by single-use bottles and cans as well as far superior recycling rates. New laws have received much public support, and most respondents to public […]
Making the Switch: The Business Case for Reusable Packaging
With growing environmental awareness worldwide and ever rising shipping costs, an increasing number of businesses are exploring ways to reduce their transport packaging. One solution for achieving this objective is to make the switch to reusables. We wanted to learn more about how companies in Europe and beyond are benefitting from reusable transport packaging, and […]
Policy Instruments to Promote Refillable Beverage Containers
19 July 2016 – Refillable beverage containers have an important role to play in the circular economy. Aside from the environmental benefits, refillable systems offer tremendous economic benefits in terms of material cost savings and job creation, which are multiplied with each refill. Despite these benefits, the market share of beverages in refillable packaging has […]
Reloop launched
March 25th marked the official launch of Reloop, the first pan-euro organization specifically focused on issues relating to waste prevention, reduction, and recycling that represents industry, government, and environmental organizations at the European Union level. Founded by like-minded interests who share a common vision for a circular economy, Reloop aims to work as a platform for advances in policy that […]
New Study on Reuse and Recycling Systems for Selected Beverage Packaging from a Sustainability Perpsective
A study just released by PricewaterhouseCoopers AG WPG in Germany assesses the existing systems for collecting and recycling beverage containers in Germany from a social, economic, and ecological viewpoint. It shows that for beverage containers, deposit-return systems are preferable to green-dot systems (industry-financed curbside collection) in that deposit-return systems acheive higher collection rates, create more jobs, […]
RVM: Reverse Vending Machines — Beverage Container Recycling (2009)
Reverse vending machines arrive… at last! “The age of automation is going to be the age of ‘do it yourself,” wrote Marshall McLuhan. Today we don’t think twice about using a bank machine, automated parking attendant, airport check-in, and self check-out at retail stores. So, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that machines designed for empty bottle […]
