Community Benefits of Reuse
Reusables reduce litter and save costs for municipalities!
Reusable packaging reduces the environmental impact of supply chains by consuming less energy and water, producing less solid waste and greenhouse gas emissions, and reducing demand for new plastic production.
Reuse is in line with many communities’ sustainability and resilience goals. By supporting reusable food and beverage packaging systems, municipalities can help realize local and state climate action plans.
Reusables reduce pressure on municipal solid waste management.
- Significant growth in take-out and fast casual dining services that utilize disposable packaging over the last decade has resulted in increased hauling and disposal fees for municipalities.
- In the U.S., disposable packaging makes up roughly 36% of municipal waste streams, of which nearly 78% is products used in food and food service industries.
- One local evaluation found that over the last 20 years total municipal solid waste has averaged 5,133 tons annually. In tourism economies, additional waste above the baseline during summer months makes up 40% of the total.
- While marketers of “green” packaging alternatives claim their containers are compostable, most require industrial-grade composting technologies that are not widely available. Without access to these technologies, compostables end up littered or landfilled just like plastics.
Reuse works. Communities across the U.S. and the globe have already successfully implemented reusable food packaging systems. Check out these reusable packaging models and real-life case studies.
Less disposable packaging means less waste in your backyard. Help keep your community beautiful by keeping plastic debris out of parks and out of the water.
The Problem of Disposability
The bulk of single-use plastic products are associated with food service. As of 2015, about 39 million tons of disposable food and beverage packaging were landfilled each year, with 75% of disposable plastic food serviceware coming from takeout. Trends in the restaurant industry have shown a steady increase in takeout services and an associated rise in food packaging waste. The COVID-19 pandemic increased the use of single-use plastics by nearly 60% and post-pandemic figures have yet to decrease.
A UMaine survey found that food and beverage businesses in Bar Harbor reported using 2,591 single-use containers per month on average; Bath businesses reported using 5,798; and in South Portland, businesses used an average of 3,906.
Recycling cannot keep up with the plastics industry. The U.S. only recycles about 5% of its plastic waste. Many recycling processes consume more energy on top of the initial plastic production and create re-emissions. “Green” alternatives like compostables often have even worse environmental impacts than conventional packaging.
This represents a pressing concern for the well-being of coastal communities as an overwhelming amount of plastic waste ends up in marine environments. Around 100,000 marine animals die each year from plastic debris. Over time, plastic debris degrades and leaches chemicals that accumulate in the environment and in food chains.
For coastal communities and the seafood industry, ingestion of microplastics is a major concern. For example, emerging research in oyster aquaculture shows that more than 94% of oysters harvested globally contain microplastics.
