There’s a new symbol in town, on plastic containers, denoting a new dimension in ‘recycling’. It’s the ‘Reuse’ symbol. The new global symbol aims to make reusable packaging as easy to identify as recycl-able materials…
We didn’t see it coming, but it’s been in the works for some time. The international ‘reuse’ symbol was officially launched June 3 by PR3: The Global Alliance to Advance Reuse, a standard-setting body founded in 2019 to provide, “a blueprint for efficient, reliable, economic, and environmentally bene-ficial reuse systems.”
That’s a mouthful. But it basically means, we should not only be recycling plastics, but reusing them wherever possible. PR3 says that would make a significant dent in the amount of plastic pollution getting into the environment.
What it does
The symbol is designed to clearly distinguish reusable containers from recyclable, compostable and single-use products. It’s single-use plastics that have caused the mega-problem of ocean flotsam that’s created huge garbage sargassos in both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Not to mention dest-roying beaches and shorelines around the world.
A recent Food & Wine story explains the rationale behind the Reuse symbol; “The recycling symbol (first launched in 1970), is an easily identifiable sign indicating that a product can be processed and repurposed. Recyclable newspapers can be made into egg cartons, cardboard can morph into cereal boxes, and junk mail may become toilet paper. But many types of packaging don’t fall into traditional recycling categories [but] can still be repurposed or simply refilled. Figuring out which package types are most appropriate for reuse, and how to reuse them, has largely fallen to consumers.”
And consumers have been reticent to make such decisions, due to a lack of information on the issue. They simply can’t be sure whether a container is suitable for reuse. But, as the new reuse symbol comes into wider use, they will be.
Reuse AND recycle?
“Recycling does not solve the packaging and waste crises,” explains Amy Larkin, environmental act-ivist, co-founder of PR3, and author of Environmental Debt. “Recycling is still single-use — it requires re-manufacturing of the package. […] Reuse systems keep a package in circulation, from 10 to up to 100 uses, before it is finally recycled and re-manufactured for another round of uses.”
By the numbers…
“Reuse can slash packaging production by up to 90 percent and cut associated emissions [by] up to 80 percent compared to single-use alternatives,” says Suz Okie, a Circularity Strategist and rebrand reuse lead at PR3.
The net result of widespread adoption of the reuse symbol could be much less plastic thrown away. Every time a plastic container is reused, another new one does not have to be manufactured. And that, reuse supports say, dramatically cuts down on the amount of plastic in circulation.
How it will work
Not only will the reuse symbol help folks identify containers they can directly reuse at home. It will also help folks distinguish between reusable and recyclable items. PR3 says reuse bins will eventually be set up right beside trash and recycle bins to collect reusable items for redistribution. The reuse ‘system’, as Larkin envisions it, will collect, wash, sort and redistribute containers for both commer-cial and home use.
It may take years for such a system to establish itself and even longer for folks to get used top the idea that plastic containers can safely be reused.
“It will take time to [gain] more general awareness among American consumers,” says Dr Janet Yang, a researcher and Professor in the Department of Environment and Sustainability at the University at Buffalo.. “But once word spreads, hopefully this could be utilized [in] as straightforward [a way] as the recycle symbol.”
My take
I think that the reuse symbol is an exceptionally good idea – one which probably should have been adopted long before now.
I remember, when I was a kid, my parents saving string, rubber bands, paper clips, paper grocery bags and other everyday items for reuse. Mom did her harvest-time preserving using the same 6 dozen Mason Jars, in rotation, for years on end. Dad always kept used nails, screws, nuts and bolts, and the cut-off ends of pieces of wood – in case he needed them sometime in the future. I’ll always remem-ber the time he literally repurposed an old hot water heater tank as a culvert when building a bridge over the creek that ran across the bottom of our backyard.
My parents, and those of all my friends, were teenagers during the Great Depression, and had learned the value of reusing whatever they could, whenever they could.
I’m hooked…
The habit rubbed off on me. I still keep plastic and glass containers that I might be able to reuse. My ‘reuse’ habit has also resulted in my ‘rescuing’ way too many pots, pans and casserole dishes from yard sales – where such items don’t sell all that well these days.
But the younger generations – anybody post-Boomer as far as I can tell – treat all containers as ‘sing-le use’. And that’s one big reason there’s so much plastic pollution in the world today.
I hope the reuse symbol and the emerging system that goes with it catch on with the general public. Plastic pollution is already a global plague – an environmental catastrophe. Even if we all start re-using plastics wherever we can, it will take years to turn the steamship on this issue. The sooner we start, the better.
Maggie J.