We have added the ability to create American National Standards to our deep roots in collaboration and consensus building. Our PR3 team published our first American National Standard in July.
In July, RESOLVE published its first American National Standard. PR3’s Container Washing, Inspection, and Packing for Distribution (RES-002:25/CSA R303:25) provides guidance for safely and effectively washing reusable packaging for food and beverages. It’s the first in a suite of standards from RESOLVE’s PR3 initiative meant to help scale and boost confidence in the reusable packaging industry by creating interoperability and shared performance metrics.
It’s also a first for RESOLVE, which received accreditation as a standards developer from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in early 2023. With it, RESOLVE joins a relatively small cohort of organizations that can create American National Standards, adding this skillset to its deep roots in collaboration and consensus building.
What are standards?
Simply put, standards document the “right” way to make or do a thing as agreed by the people who make or do that thing. They help ensure products are safe, processes are repeatable, and different parts of a system can work together. You might think first of technical standards for products: how to formulate a painkiller, how to ensure lifejackets have the right buoyancy, the dimensions of a shipping container - there are standards for all of these. There are also standards for processes, things like environmental management in manufacturing, growing organic food, and running an Olympic event.
At their core, standards are about consensus. A standard is born when representatives from all affected parties in an industry or field agree that something should only be done a certain way. Broad representation and balance among stakeholders are crucial to standards development.
For example, PR3’s global, +80-member consensus body reflects the full range of people and organizations affected by reusable packaging from production to disposal, including reuse system operators, health experts, consumer and community advocates, city and government officials, packaging manufacturers, multinational food and beverage companies, formal and informal worker groups, testing and standards bodies, environmental health activists and scientists.
At RESOLVE and PR3, our fundamental goal is to create standards-setting processes that are equitable and open.
When might I want to create a standard?
Standards are in development and being revised all the time. The need for new standards arises as new technologies are invented, new industries form, new science surfaces, and new social concerns or goals emerge. Situations that might suggest it’s time for a standard include:
Can RESOLVE help me and my field create standards?
YES! Please reach out to our team. Our standards team is nimble and focused on driving innovation around the fundamental goal of standards: to include and benefit all affected parties.
Services:
For more information about RESOLVE standards development work, contact Mason Hines.
At RESOLVE, we’re here to tackle the toughest global challenges. The ones nobody else wants to touch. Where people are in conflict and planet problems are stuck. We’re here to unstick them. It’s not easy. It takes grit and ingenuity. And finding and working with the right partners. But we’re not called RESOLVE for nothing.
