Consumers Beyond Waste

The document outlines a framework for transitioning from single-use to reusable packaging, focusing on municipal implementation, design criteria for durability, and public health and safety guidelines. It emphasizes the role of cities as 'living laboratories' and the need for a mindset shift in packaging design toward longevity and recyclability. The World Economic Forum's 'Consumers Beyond Waste' initiative aims to scale these models through knowledge sharing and collaborative pilot programs.

• Reusing just 10% of plastic products has the potential to prevent nearly 50% of annual plastic ocean waste, addressing a crisis where half of global plastic production is currently for single use and less than 10% of all plastic waste has been recycled.
• Cities are ideal environments for testing circular consumption models due to their high population density, existing physical infrastructure for material handling, and concentration of innovators and cultural influencers.
• Municipalities must develop both physical infrastructure—for collection, cleaning, and redistribution—and 'soft infrastructure,' which includes data pooling, communications, education, and deposit-scheme management.
• Scaling reuse requires a design shift away from light-weighting and low costs toward high-quality materials—such as metals, high-performance plastics, and high-quality glass—that maximize longevity and are designed specifically for the reuse loop (refilling, cleaning, and return).
• The framework for reuse design is based on four models defined by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation: refill at home, refill on the go, return from home, and return on the go.
• Public health and safety requirements for reusable packaging vary by product category, with stricter standards for ingested products like food and beverages compared to topical products like cosmetics.
• The success of reuse systems depends heavily on consumer engagement, as users must be educated on proper cleaning, usage, and recognizing when a container has reached the end of its lifecycle.

APA

World Economic Forum (2021). Consumers Beyond Waste. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_CP_Consumers_Beyond_Waste_2021.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Consumers Beyond Waste. 2021. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_CP_Consumers_Beyond_Waste_2021.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Consumers Beyond Waste |date=September 2021 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_CP_Consumers_Beyond_Waste_2021.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2021consumers, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Consumers Beyond Waste}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2021}, month = sep, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_CP_Consumers_Beyond_Waste_2021.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }