Product–Service Systems Applied to Reusable Packaging Systems: A Strategic Design Tool

Abstract

Environmental sustainability is under the threat of excessive single‐use plastic packaging waste, which current waste management fails to address. Therefore, the issue has led to an identification of the solution that can curb packaging waste without sacrificing social needs.Reusable packaging systems (RPSs) represent a circular approach to close the loop of consumption in which packaging can stay longer in the system to satisfy social needs. However, the implementation of reusable packaging is limited. Product–service systems (PSSs) are widely regarded as a sustainable business model innovation for embracing circular consumption. As a result, applying PSSs to RPSs should be promising in addressing the packaging waste issue. Even so, there is limited knowledge regarding adopting this approach to address the packaging crisis. This paper explores how to apply PSSs to RPSs to support professionals in addressing the packaging crisis in the food and household products industry.The methodology of this paper is a combination of case studies and expert interviews. Fifty‐seven case studies are collected, analyzed, and formulated into 15 archetypal models that represent all types of RPSs in the current market. In parallel, a classification is developed to embrace those 15 archetypal models, and a total of 24 experts—packaging consultants, NGO professionals who address plastic waste, and reusable packaging entrepreneurs—were invited for the evaluation of the design tool.This research provides a strategic design tool to support packaging professionals to design RPSs. The application of the tool is to support understanding RPSs, analyzing the markets, and identifying new opportunities, and to generate RPSs. The implication of this research is to provide insights for academics and businesses in terms of tackling single‐use packaging waste and to build a foundation to further develop the design tool for generating RPSs.

Exploring and Addressing the User Acceptance Issues Embedded in the Adoption of Reusable Packaging Systems

“…These 15 archetypal models represent all of the variations of RPSs in the market until 2020. It has to be underlined that businesses within same archetypal models may be also different, as identified by Long et al [46]. These three archetypal models are part of a framework that includes a total of 15 archetypal models, and the insights of this research may only be generalised to those three archetypal models.…”

“…Notably, these three cases are examples of three different reusable packaging archetypal models ('archetypal model' refers to a group of businesses sharing similar characteristics). Long et al [46] identified 15 archetypal models based on the characteristics (i.e., ownership of the packaging, service types, service locations, target groups and delivery methods). These 15 archetypal models represent all of the variations of RPSs in the market until 2020.…”

A literature review and analytical framework of the sustainability of reusable packaging

“…Several authors highlight the importance of marketing strategies (Kunamaneni et al, 2019;Lialiuk et al, 2019;Muranko et al, 2020). Clear communication of system benefits and function is required to ensure the intended consumer behaviours are adopted (Lofthouse and Bhamra, 2006;Lofthouse et al, 2009;Long et al, 2020).…”

Reusable packaging in Europe : Between facts and fiction – an informed opinion for Metal Packaging Europe

“…Logistics [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Consumer acceptance [18 -22] Description of existing B2C reuse systems [23,24] [ 25 -32] Estimation of potential reductions in environmental impacts [33 -46] Design for reuse [47,48] Food safety [49 -54] Miscellaneous [55, 56] [5,57,58] The difference between the category "description of existing B2C reuse systems" and "estimation of potential reductions in environmental impacts" can be complex, since there are studies that combine elements of both.…”

“…Furthermore, the majority of the scientific articles and national reports focusses on the return-on-the-go business model, only seven articles and one report describe other business models [5,22,38,40,42,44,47,48].…”