Case Study
Designing for a reuse tipping point

Insights from early adopters on moving to the mainstream

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The Challenge

The U.S. throws away millions of tons of packaging every week, wasting valuable resources and filling landfills to capacity. Reimagining a world where packaging materials stay in circulation longer is an economic and environmental necessity — but for decisionmakers inleading business, it can feel like a far-off ambition. Much of the innovation driving the transition to a circular economy is driven by an ecosystem of nimble startups, whose reality is often shaped by early-adopter customers who are eager to explore new ideas. To help leading businesses make waste-free business models a reality in their organizations, we launched a rigorous study that provided unprecedented access to some of the most innovative reuse platforms in the nation.

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400M

tons of plastic waste is created globally per year

56%

of customers say it is extremely important that brands offer reusable products and packaging

300

early-adopter customers included in study

16

leading reuse businesses contributed to findings

The Solution

Together with our partners at the U.S. Plastics Pact, we collaborated with 16 reuse innovators to understand what drives their customers — early adopters who have embraced reusable packaging. Through surveys and interviews, we listened to over 300 customers to identify the enablers of and barriers to reuse adoption. This unique lens moved the study beyond the “intention-action gap” question that often hangs over research on sustainable behavior because it focused on the people who have already explored and committed to waste-free business models.

The findings provided a clear perspective on what consumers actually do and say when engaging with reuse —highlighting the convenience they value, the barriers they face and the motivators that drive participation.

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“We’ve reached a crucial moment to make reusable packaging a normal part of everyday life. The research in this report charts a course toward transforming reuse by starting from the customer’s point of view—understanding and overcoming the obstacles people face that stop them from developing a habit of reusing.”

– Kate Daly, Managing Partner and CEO of the Closed Loop Center

Impact

We published the results in a report that offers a front-row seat for mainstream business leaders wanting to learn from the leading edge of the circular economy. We distilled the insights into key themes, including what drives customer understanding, preference, motivation and action — and how brands can reduce consumer friction. Drawing on a decade of our own work in the field, we also shared learnings from Closed Loop Center projects and Closed Loop Partners investments.

The first-of-its-kind report has been downloaded nearly one thousand times by critical stakeholders like brands, policymakers and more. It has garnered industry coverage in outlets including Packaging Insights, Trellis and Sustainable Brands . The successful reception for the report led to our second study with the US Plastics Pact, focused on reuse in retail.

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Our Role

Research

  • Survey design and analysis
  • Customer interviews
  • Subject matter interviews
  • Procurement and sales data analysis 
  • Analysis of operational data from reuse operators

Design

Build

Download and read the full report

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We are  part of Closed Loop Partners—which includes the largest privately held recycling company in the U.S. and one of the largest circular economy capital management groups in the world—we’re uniquely positioned to bring research, design, and real-world implementation together.