PR3

Single-use packaging is a primary cause of the plastic and climate crises. Reuse is the most effective solution. PR3’s mission is to enable and accelerate the alignment and scaling of reuse systems around the world. Over three years, drawing on input from across the value chain, PR3 created system design standards meant to align returnable packaging –regardless of producer– with shared infrastructure for collection, washing, and transport. Through this work, PR3 has become a hub for solutions in the global plastic reduction and reusable packaging systems space. This is what we are doing now:

Standards

PR3 is now seeking American National Standard designation for its standards. We are convening a consensus body, with representatives from industry, government, and civil society, to refine and approve the standards following the American National Standards Institutes’ Essential Requirements.

Access the current version of PR3’s standards.

Learn more about PR3’s standards development process and become involved.

Complete this form to receive updates on PR3’s standards development process.

Global Plastic Treaty

PR3 believes reuse must be a central fixture of the Global Plastics Treaty being developed now by the intergovernmental negotiating committee on Plastic Pollution under the United Nations Environment Programme. Read our recommendations.

Creating Systems

We are activating the world’s first interoperable and standardized reuse systems intended for consumer goods as well as food and beverage packaging. We are core partners of Reuse Seattle and the Jakarta Reuse Movement, and we are working to embed standards in more city-level reuse systems around the world, collaborating with Perpetual in the U.S., Zero Waste Europe in the E.U., and others.

Background

Plastic production, from recycled content or not, is a significant and growing driver of global greenhouse gases (GHGs) and much of the plastic produced for packaging ultimately winds up as garbage in landfills and oceans. Research done by The Pew Charitable Trusts in 2020 shows that reusable packaging represents the most effective way to solve this problem.

Reuse can reduce up to eighty percent of the climate impact of packaging. A shift to reusable packaging moves supply chains away from fossil fuel and global sourcing toward circular, regional economies and local employment. Reuse systems must be scaled to reach this potential.

Everyday technologies, such as wi-fi and USB ports, have standards that have allowed them to proliferate and become consistently made and used globally. For reuse systems to scale as a truly viable replacement for single-use packaging, the growing reuse industry needs similar standards.

RESOLVE launched PR3 to enable this systemic change. Standardized systems and infrastructure will help transform the current landscape of disconnected, small-scale, reuse programs and pilots into full-scale, interoperable public-private systems.

PR3’s diverse team has transformed global industries before, from eliminating hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in refrigeration to creating global protocols for conflict-free mining.

PR3 has been featured in GreenBiz, Green Network Asia, and Upstream’s Indisposable Podcast, among others. In 2022, PR3 was nominated for an EarthShot Prize and the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity.