Reusable transport packaging

Reusable transport packaging — containers used to store, ship, handle, protect and identify goods — generally reduces long-term costs, prevents garbage, and makes for efficient product handling.

MPCA's online directory of suppliers has become outdated and has been taken offline.

However, many organizations around the country have created new resources to help companies and organizations adopt reusable transport packaging to their operations. We hope that Minnesota companies will be able to use these resources to find options for reducing their packaging waste.

• Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
  Resources from a multi-year project where the agency and a contracted packaging engineer worked with a variety of businesses to evaluate their use of packaging. Project participants made changes resulting in an estimated prevention of 493 tons of packaging/year, with estimated annual savings of nearly $1 million. #RTP
• Packaging Revolution - The reusable revolution
  Commercial site that focuses on pallets and reusable packaging, including selection, management and industry news. #RTP
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Integrate your Reverse Logistics Network
  Presentation on improving reverse logistics and strategies to include product recycling to lower costs and increase efficiencies. #RTP
• Reusable Container & Pallet Association
  RCPA members are the leading suppliers of reusable/returnable industrial plastic containers, pallets and packaging. #RTP
• Reusable Packaging Association
  RPA pro­motes the envi­ron­men­tal, safety, and eco­nomic ben­e­fits of reusable pack­ag­ing. It is a trade asso­ci­a­tion of lead­ing man­u­fac­tur­ers, pool­ers, dis­trib­u­tors, retail­ers, edu­ca­tors, and oth­ers with a com­mit­ment to reusable pack­ag­ing sys­tems and the mes­sage of re-use. #RTP
• SmartWay (U.S. EPA)
  SmartWay is a public/private collaboration between U.S. EPA and the freight transportation industry that helps freight shippers, carriers, and logistics companies improve fuel-efficiency and save money. #RTP
• Transport Packaging Challenge (U.S. EPA)
  The WasteWise Transport Packaging Challenge encourages reducing the amount of waste generated by transport packaging, including eliminating unnecessary transport packaging, switching to reusable transport packaging, and reusing incoming packaging for outgoing shipments. The most common goal of challenge participants was to work with suppliers to reduce transport packaging, reflecting the importance of building partnerships to reduce waste. #RTP
• Transport Packaging: Cost-Effective Strategies for Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling in the Grocery Industry
  Developed to help businesses make informed decisions about reducing, reusing, and recycling transport packaging, this manual features best management practices for OCC, plastic film and pallets, based on lessons learned at the store level. The information gathered in this report came from working with the grocery industry, but applies to any large user of transport packaging. #RTP
• Use Reusables
  Reusable transport packaging offers environmental advantages while it adds to your bottom line. The site is supported by the Reusable Packaging Association and the StopWaste Partnership.  #RTP