When people talk about reducing plastic waste, they tend to have a narrow picture of the possibilities, like using reusable bottles or shopping bags. More often than not, the focus is on what consumers can do. But to prevent tonnes of plastic being made just to be thrown away, businesses need to ensure people can reuse and refill all their packages and products, from ready meals and soft drinks to shampoo and eyeliner. 

Reverse supply chain

Ensuring that everyone can easily reuse products will require more elegant solutions. The first step is for businesses to track their packaging with a digital product passport. This is essentially a unique QR code that can be scanned at key points on the product’s journey – when it’s returned to the shop, when it’s cleaned and refilled by the manufacturer at a warehouse, and when it’s returned to a shop or ordered online.

This system will allow businesses to track how many times different types of packaging can be reused and how often people will return them, digital product passports are the first step to solving both of these challenges. Now businesses need to put these ideas into practice.