Welcome to the Solutions Database,
a guide to technologies, strategies, and best practices for reducing plastic waste

Packaging that serves an essential function – and so cannot be eliminated through direct elimination – can often be indirectly eliminated by deploying innovative solutions to achieve the required function in a new way, without unintended consequences. There are many innovative ways to provide essential packaging functionalities, including:

• Rethinking the product: such as switching from liquid to bar shampoo. (3)
• Rethinking how the function is provided: such as packaging-free solutions for labeling and tamper evidence (see solutions under “case studies” below), grouping multi-buys together using glue dots or sticker bands instead of packaging wraps, and extending the shelf life of perishables using nebulization, supply chain management, or edible coatings.
• Sourcing goods locally: to reduce packaging requirements for transport and protection. (3)
• Replacing sales of single-use products: with durable products (such as water filtration systems instead of bottled water, or long-life instead of disposable cutlery and tableware). Companies may incur revenue losses with these solutions, but other revenue streams can often be generated, including monthly leasing fees for durable products or water filtration services, up-selling, and attracting a new customer base and/or increasing customer loyalty.

Key benefits:

• Saved in-store and transport costs: edible coatings on fresh produce can drive down food waste, costs, and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG); electricity can be saved by replacing more costly and energy intensive refrigeration with nebulization; and redesigned products (such as bar shampoo instead of liquid) can save packaging costs, transport, storage, space, and packaging material. (3)
• Enhanced consumer convenience: innovations can improve the user experience by eliminating the need to unwrap or measure single-serve products, easing use on-the-go (e.g., dissolvable films on laundry tabs), and eliminating the need to dispose of packaging (e.g., locking mechanisms instead of tear-off seals on jars and bottles).
• Consumer savings: users can save money as durable products are often cheaper per usage than the single-use product.
• Reduced plastic consumption: eliminating the need for single-use products can greatly reduce plastic consumption and all its associated externalities. For example, reusable instead of single-use water bottles reduce plastic mass and GHG emissions by 97% and reusable plates reduce plastic mass and GHG emissions by 52%.
• Enhanced packaging functionality: some elimination innovations can even improve the product performance or customer experience compared to plastic packaging, for example by improving the shelf life, overall appearance, or freshness, or by introducing new and improved product lines. Similarly, when incorporating multiple packaging components and units into a single, more functional, simple packaging (such as removing a straw and making a carton “ready-to-drink”), the functionality of the packaging can be improved. (3)

Key watch-outs:

• Ensure that innovative elimination solutions can be integrated into existing supply chains and do not contaminate recycling or composting streams at end-of-life. Be mindful that an innovative elimination effort does not unintentionally become a material substitution effort. (3)
• Identify marketing challenges that can be solved by innovative technologies. For example, new solutions to the challenge of communicating without a label include product recognition tools integrated in apps, which enable users to scan products and receive the information they would usually find on a physical label

Many innovative elimination opportunities are available for fresh food, beverages, and personal care products, including but not limited to (3):

• Rethinking packaging that serves functions other than product protection (e.g., labeling, tamper evidence).
• Redesigning some liquid products as solid ones to make packaging redundant (e.g., shampoo bars instead of liquid shampoo).
• Coating products with edible or dissolvable packaging to extend their shelf life and/or reduce food waste without requiring so much packaging.

Starting points for selling durable rather than single-use plastic products include:

• Replacing disposable plastic cutlery, stirrers, straws, plastic plates, and bowls that are designed to be use just once with reusable options where possible. In particular, small disposable items such as cutlery are high leakage products that are often found littered on beaches (9). Where reusable options are offered, firms should take steps to ensure that the items are actually reused by consumers in practice. Options include operating or engaging reusable systems which are easy to engage with and seamless to use, for example by installing return points and facilities for washing reusable items, offering rental services for reusable picnic/party tableware, or introducing incentives that encourage consumers to change their behavior and carry reusable items with them. (14)
• Reusable water bottles and durable products such as water filters can replace single-use bottles. These alternatives sometimes increase customer loyalty by replacing single transactions with a long-term consumer relationship.

Initial guidance on applicability of this solution per plastic type: