Glossary

All the terms you need to know relating to the packaging ecosystem, with particular focus on refill and reuse systems

Certification

The process of verifying that a product or service meets the requirements set by an officially adopted standard, regulation, or recognised guidelines.

Circular economy

A systemic approach to economic development designed to benefit businesses, society, and the environment. In contrast to the ‘take-make-waste’ linear model, a circular economy is regenerative by design and aims to gradually decouple growth from the consumption of finite resources by sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling in order to retain the highest utility and value of products, components and materials

Deposit

A defined sum of money, not being part of the price of a packaged or filled product that is collected when purchasing such product, covered by a deposit and return system in a given territory and redeemable when the packaging bearing the deposit is returned to a collection point established for that purpose.

Deposit return system (DRS)

A system in which a deposit is charged to the end user when purchasing a packaged or filled product covered by that system, and redeemed when the deposit bearing the packaging is returned through one of the collection channels authorised for that purpose by the competent authorities.

Design

The process of developing the material and visual elements of reusable packaging to ensure both aesthetic appeal and functional effectiveness.

Digital library system

A system by which an economic operator tracks reusable packaging that can be borrowed by consumers for free for a given period of time.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

A policy mechanism aimed at ensuring that producers bear financial and organisational responsibility for the management of the end-of-life of the products they put into the market.

Grouped packaging

Packaging conceived so as to constitute a grouping of a certain number of sales units at the point of sale, irrespective of whether that grouping of sales units is sold as such to the end user or whether it serves as a means to facilitate the restocking of shelves at the point of sale or to create a stock keeping or distribution unit, and which can be removed from the product without affecting its characteristics.

Packaging

An item, irrespective of the materials from which it is made, that is intended to be used by an economic operator for the containment, protection, handling, delivery or presentation of products, and that can be differentiated by packaging format based on its function, material and design.

Packaging waste

Packaging or packaging material that is discarded by the holder, with the exception of production residues.

Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO)

A legal entity responsible for managing and ensuring the fulfilment of EPR obligations on behalf of multiple producers, both financially and operationally.

Reconditioning

The process of repairing and restoring containers or equipment to a functional state, making them suitable for reuse and/or redistribution

Refill

An operation whereby a container, either owned or purchased by the end user at the point of sale, is filled with one or more products by the end user or the final distributor.

Refill station

A place where a final distributor offers to end users products that can be purchased through refill.

Return rate

Percentage of packaging returned by the end user at every cycle.

Reusable packaging

Packaging designed and introduced to the market with the intention of being used multiple times for the same purpose. This type of packaging is capable of being emptied, unloaded, refilled, or reloaded, while still maintaining its ability to perform its intended function.

Reuse rate

Percentage of packaging reused after a full cycle. It differs from the return rate in the number of packaging that is discarded once returned because of not meeting the functionality or safety requirements to be redistributed.

Reuse system

The organisational, operational, technical, or financial framework, including any necessary infrastructure and incentives, that facilitates and supports the reuse of products such as packaging. There are two main types of reuse systems for packaging:

1. Open-loop: reusable packaging circulates amongst an unspecified number of system participants, and the ownership of the packaging changes at one or more points in the reuse process.
2. Closed-loop: reusable packaging is circulated by a system operator or a co-operating group of system participants without transferring the ownership of packaging.

Reverse logistics

The process of returning reusable packaging from end users back through the supply chain to either the retailer or manufacturer.

Rotation

The cycle that reusable packaging accomplishes from the moment it is placed on the market together with a product, to the stage it is ready for being reused in a system for reuse with a view to it being supplied again to the end users together with another product.

Single-use packaging

Packaging that is conceived, designed and placed on the market to be used once before becoming waste

Standard

Technical document designed to be used as a rule, guideline or definition, established by consensus, and approved by a recognised body. Standards on the same subject can be harmonised when approved by different standardisation organisations to establish interchangeability of products, process and services, or mutual understanding of test results, or information provided according to these standards. Standards can be used by economic operators to demonstrate their products, services, or processes comply with the legislation. They are often voluntarily applicable, although the regulation can make them mandatory for specific uses.

In Europe, there are three recognised European Standardisation Organisations: CEN, CENELEC (electrotechnical), and ETSI (telecommunications).

Takeaway packaging

Packaging filled at attended points of sale, with beverages or ready-prepared food that is packaged for transportation and immediate consumption at another location without the need for any further preparation and is typically consumed from the packaging.

Trip

The movement of packaging from filling/loading to emptying/unloading, either as part of a rotation or separately.

Washing

The process of sanitising reusable packaging with water to remove bacteria and other contaminants

Waste

Any substance or object which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard.

Waste hierarchy

Key principle established under the European Union’s Waste Framework Directive (article 4 of Directive 2008/98/EC), which sets out the preferred order of waste management practices, aimed at minimising environmental impact and promoting resource efficiency.

The waste hierarchy is as follows:

(a) prevention
(b) preparing for reuse
(c) recycling:
(d) energy recovery (i.e. incineration)
(e) disposal