The Failures of Reusable Packaging & Building Foundational Progress

In the world of sustainable packaging, few voices are as refreshingly honest and grounded as Mike Newman , CEO of Returnity Innovations . With nearly a decade of experience in the reusable packaging industry, Newman offers a sobering yet hopeful perspective on the challenges and opportunities in this space.

The following article was written using excerpts from The The Selling Circular Podcast with hosts Garr Punnett and Sabira Lakhani .

The Reality of Reusable Packaging

Newman doesn't mince words when it comes to the current state of reusable packaging: "In almost 10 years in one way or another that I've been involved in reusable packaging now, it's been a pretty significant failure as a category, not just in shipping, but in food and, and, you know, basically anywhere you want to slice it, reuse has really struggled."

This stark assessment comes from a place of genuine concern and a desire for real progress. Newman emphasizes that for reusable packaging to have a meaningful impact, it needs to scale. However, the industry has yet to produce any unicorns or even hundred-million-dollar companies.

The Challenges of Consumer Behavior

One of the biggest hurdles facing reusable packaging is consumer behavior. Newman points out a critical threshold: "Most life cycle assessment studies have shown that you don't really see a meaningful separation between single use and reuse until you get above 90%." This means that for reusable packaging to be truly effective, it needs to be returned and reused at an extremely high rate.

However, achieving such high return rates is incredibly challenging. As Newman puts it, "You can't get 90% of people to do anything voluntarily, certainly not a sustainability standpoint." This reality has led Returnity to shift its focus away from direct-to-consumer models and towards business-to-business applications where return rates can be more tightly controlled.

The Importance of Economic Viability

Newman stresses that for reusable packaging to succeed, it must make economic sense for businesses: "We have to enable them to adopt things that are economically viable or else we're never gonna get there." This focus on economic viability has led Returnity to target applications where reusable packaging can save companies money, such as in retail store supply chains.

Building a Foundation for Progress

Despite the challenges, Newman remains cautiously optimistic about the future of reusable packaging. He advocates for a more modest, foundation-focused approach: "I think by being more modest today and sort of foundation focused, we'll gain greater momentum than if we just try and skip ahead."

This approach involves targeting applications where reusable packaging can succeed today, such as employee-managed systems in retail environments, rather than trying to change consumer behavior overnight. By building on these successes, the industry can create a solid foundation for future growth and innovation.

The Need for Honesty and Realism

Throughout the interview, Newman emphasizes the importance of honesty and realism in the sustainability space. He cautions against "noble lies" that claim zero waste or perfect sustainability, arguing that such claims ultimately set the industry back.

Instead, Newman advocates for a more nuanced approach: "I think we do ourselves a disservice by projecting this idea of some sort of utopian zero impact future. There's no like, that is not how human society has ever worked. It's not how it's likely to ever work."

Looking to the Future

While Newman is clear-eyed about the challenges facing reusable packaging, he remains committed to making progress. He sees potential in regulatory efforts like the EU's PPWR regulations but cautions that the industry needs to make significant improvements in cost and impact to justify such aggressive targets.

Ultimately, Newman's message is one of perseverance and pragmatism. As he puts it, "This stuff is really hard. It takes a really long time. It's really expensive and there's only going to be so much change." By acknowledging these realities and focusing on building a solid foundation, the reusable packaging industry can continue to make steady progress towards a more sustainable future.