For producers, the transition to a circular economy presents both challenges and opportunities. However, those that move early and have a clear strategy, with the right material and technological solutions in place, stand to gain a competitive advantage.
By Mike Jones
Single-use packaging has long been the default choice for businesses worldwide, but that default is being fundamentally challenged. According to a recent report, the global reusable packaging market exceeded $150.4 billion in 2025 and is expected to grow to a staggering $258 billion by 2035.
With plastic pollution mounting at the same time as raw material costs sharply rising, the transition to reusable packaging is a welcome move. But what are the regulations and innovations that will take us to a more circular economy, and is there more that businesses should be doing?
The Regulatory Reshaping of Packaging Design
A wave of regulations is slowly sweeping across the packaging industry around the world. In the U.S., the Plastics Pact (USPP) was launched in 2025 and brings together the entire plastic packaging value chain, including governments, businesses, and NGOs, to advance circular solutions via a five-stage roadmap. One of these stages involves identifying viable reusable packaging systems and increasing implementation and scale by 2030.
Packaging regulation is also being driven at the state level with seven states—including California, Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington—having enacted comprehensive EPR programs as of 2026, with more states expected to follow. While each state’s approach differs, the trajectory is consistent with producers being held financially responsible for the end-of-life management of their packaging, with fee structures increasingly designed to reward reusable and recyclable formats.
Some states are also going a step further on reusability. Minnesota’s Packaging 91²Ö¿â and Cost Reduction Act requires all packaging to be reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2032, while Washington’s Recycling Reform Act requires Producer Responsibility Organizations to fund and implement programs that promote reuse and refill systems—making reusability a core obligation rather than an optional consideration. Oregon’s scheme is one of the most advanced and goes further still by building financial incentives for producers that transition to reusable or refillable packaging formats into its fee structure, allowing brands to reduce the cost burden that can often come with reuse schemes.
Beyond the U.S., regulatory frameworks are tightening further. Across Europe, EPR schemes place the financial burden of end-of-life packaging management on producers—a principle now embedded in legislation across the continent. The European Union’s Packaging and Packaging 91²Ö¿â Regulation (PPWR) builds on this foundation, setting binding reuse targets for producers, while the United Kingdom’s EPR scheme and Canada’s Single-Use Plastic Prohibition Regulations are adding further pressure on packaging producers globally.
While these stricter regulations are aligned with the scale of the global plastic pollution problem, it does mean many businesses are having to rethink their entire packaging supply chain. With this potentially signaling high upfront costs, some businesses may be inclined to treat regulation as a compliance exercise, but there is plenty of evidence that shows that businesses reap more benefits by getting ahead and considering circularity from the outset.
The Commercial Case for Reusable Packaging
The financial argument for reusable packaging is often obscured by the high upfront costs of durable materials. However, the long-term commercial benefits tell a different story. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, replacing just 20 percent of global single-use plastic packaging with reusable alternatives can create a financial opportunity worth at least $10 billion.
Reusable packaging also strengthens supply chain resilience, which, in turn, protects businesses from fluctuating costs and supply of materials. Recent geopolitical instability has highlighted the vulnerability of supply chains that depend heavily on virgin plastics. Disruptions in the strait of Hormuz continue to add pressure to global petrochemical supplies, contributing to a sharp increase in plastic prices. With around 40 percent of global plastic production used for single-use packaging, consumer goods producers were quickly impacted. By keeping materials in circulation for as long as possible, such as by using reuse systems, businesses can reduce this exposure and build more stable, cost-efficient operations over time.
Producers that make the switch to reusable packaging early will benefit from a substantial first-mover advantage. By unlocking new revenue streams, strengthening long-term customer relationships, and building more resilient supply chains, brands that prioritize reuse can position themselves to reap significant commercial benefits.
Beyond Reuse: How Alternative Materials and Innovation are Reshaping the Packaging Industry
While reusable packaging is a critical step in the right direction, it is not a fix-all solution. Achieving genuine sustainability requires a holistic approach, extending beyond reuse systems to consider the materials, design formats, and technologies that form the entire packaging lifecycle. Intelligent solutions, such as Digital Product Passports (DPPs) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tools, are playing an increasingly important role here.
DPPs improve data reliability and supply chain visibility by creating a standardized digital record—containing key information such as origin, material composition, and instructions for reuse, recycling or disposal—for each product. While LCA tools complement DPPs by comparing the environmental impact of materials before design formats are chosen. The LCA identifies the areas in the packaging lifecycle where emissions from waste or energy usage would be at their highest. This allows producers to select lower-emission options at those stages, to reduce packaging waste and improve recycling efficiency.
Together, DPPs and LCAs give producers the means to make more informed decisions at the design stage, driving continuous improvements towards circularity across the packaging lifecycle and increasing compatibility with reuse systems at end-of-life.
Alongside reusable systems and intelligent solutions, businesses are considering alternative designs and materials that prioritize sustainability. For example, mono-material designs—where all components of a package are composed of a single material—are gaining ground in recent years due to their improved recyclability at end of life. By designing a product from a single material, the disposal process is significantly simplified as consumers and businesses no longer need to separate recyclable and non-recyclable components before disposal. Just as reusable packaging reduces the burden on waste systems by keeping materials in circulation, mono-material designs simplify what happens at the end of a product’s life, reducing contamination and improving efficiency in the recycling process.
Similarly, materials such as Forest Stewardship Council (FSC®) certified paper and fiber-based formats are becoming more widely adopted precisely because they have a simplified disposal process. This is due to their compatibility with existing collection infrastructures which simplifies the end-of-life process in the same way mono-material designs do.
As a result, paper and board packaging currently achieves a recycling rate of approximately 60 percent in the U.S., demonstrating that compatibility with established recycling systems is one of the most effective ways to improve circularity. This same compatibility logic applies to reuse systems as materials that integrate easily with existing infrastructures are more likely to be successfully returned, cleaned, and recirculated.
What Does this All Mean for Packaging Producers
What is clear is that producers that begin redesigning now, auditing packaging portfolios, piloting reuse systems, and investing in data infrastructure, will be better placed to meet tightening regulatory deadlines, manage rising compliance costs and capture the commercial benefits that come with genuine sustainability leadership.
The rise of reusable packaging reflects a fundamental shift in how businesses, governments, and consumers are rethinking the role of packaging in a circular economy. While reusable packaging is a critical step in the right direction, it is not the primary solution. Achieving genuine circularity requires a blended approach, where producers need to consider the materials, design formats, and technologies that form the entire packaging lifecycle.
For producers, the transition to a circular economy presents both challenges and opportunities. However, those that move early and have a clear strategy, with the right material and technological solutions in place, stand to gain a competitive advantage. | WA
Mike Jones is Head of Innovation and General Manager of Intelligent Solutions at Mainetti. With three decades of experience under his belt, he is an accomplished design and innovation professional. Starting as a Product Manager in 1992, Mike quickly climbed the ranks at Mainetti to become the Head of Design and is renowned for his visionary approach and dynamic leadership in successful design initiatives. From 2019, Mike had a brief stint away from Mainetti as Design Director at Design Reality UK before rejoining Mainetti in January 2023. In Mike’s new role as Head of Innovation, he is responsible for leading a global team of 50 research and design specialists and coordinates innovation across the entire group by developing strategy, new technologies, materials, and processes. For more information, e-mail [email protected].