Exhibition: Display - Reuse, Refill, Rethink

This exhibition showcases a variety of products and demonstrate the difference between refillable, returnable (prefill) and repurposed product packaging of the past, present, and future.

It explores how current developments in packaging have historical significance and how we might learn from the past when envisioning new models of reuse for the future.

Recycling has become the norm for addressing our problem with plastic waste, but recycling is often challenging and encourages a throwaway culture. Currently, less than half of our plastic packaging waste is successfully recycled. Reuse is (re-) emerging as an alternative, to help us transition to a circular economy. Reuse can save resources, reduce litter, and reduce waste, and if containers are used enough times, save water, carbon, and energy. However, this requires significant buy-in from users, including consumers, commercial organisations, and national policymakers. To achieve real benefits, the product must stay in circulation and be used for the same purpose.

Research by the ‘Many Happy Returns’ team at the University of Sheffield shows that an item like a reusable plastic coffee cup needs to be used approximately 9 times to have a lower carbon footprint than the single-use alternative.