New Global Symbol Launched To Identify Reusable Packaging And Systems

Domestic waste for recycling. (Photo by BuildPix/Construction Photography/Avalon/Getty Images)

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A new global symbol designed to identify reusable packaging and reuse systems has been launched by a coalition of businesses, governments, NGOs, and designers.

The logo has been launched by PR3: The Global Alliance to Advance Reuse and comes amid growing concerns that recycling alone cannot solve the plastic waste crisis alone.

The PR3 Global Standards Panel launched the search for a universal reuse symbol in 2025, and the initiative received 236 submissions from 29 countries.

The winning symbol was created by Nicole Ascanio Rodriguez and Juan Navarrete, designers and co-founders of Epigrama Studios, based in Bogotá, Colombia.

The design was selected following multiple rounds of jury review, global market testing and evaluation against various criteria including distinctiveness, memorability, actionability, cultural adaptability and recognizability.

It was also specifically evaluated to ensure it could be clearly distinguished from the existing recycling symbol.

The symbol is now being introduced on a diverse range of reusables and reuse infrastructure, including cups, wine and beverage bottles, and collection bins.

It may also appear across collection points, wash facilities, digital interfaces, return systems and reuse infrastructure designed to support end-to-end circular systems.

PR3 has also developed global standards for reuse covering collection systems, container design, digital systems, labeling, operations, incentives and washing infrastructure through a consensus body representing more than 80 organizations.

The standards are already helping guide the development of reuse systems globally, including municipal and commercial reuse infrastructure in North America, Europe and Asia.

It is also developing a certification system for reuse operations and wash infrastructure.

PR3 co-founder and director, Amy Larkin said reuse is the most effective strategy for long-term plastic use reduction, in an interview.

Larkin added the manufacturing of single-use plastic can be cut by 90% by reusable packaging systems when compared to comparable single-use products.

And she said the ongoing Strait of Hormuz crisis has also helped push the price of plastic packaging up 40% in many areas in just three months, because the Middle East is a major exporter of petrochemicals used in plastics production.

“There's a pure financial incentive to reuse, which is not going away anytime soon,” Larkin told me.

“And the more people reuse, the more it will get picked up, with reuse entrepreneurs leading the way.”

Larkin pointed to PepsiCo Inc. expanding its reusable cup program inside Levi’s Stadium for February’s Super Bowl as an example of how reuse is gaining greater prominence.

She added in Indonesia, the government has also identified reuse as an integral part of its battle against plastic waste.

“We anticipate reuse is going to be very desirable, and this new symbol is going to be seen around the world. Culture changes everything and I hope it comes to be a beacon for thinking ‘there are solutions out there’ and ‘we can fix stuff’,” added Larkin.

Juan Navarrete, co-founder and designer at Epigrama Studios, which designed the successful symbol said they wanted to create a symbol that communicates return, continuity and circulation, in a statement.

Navarrete added it had to be something simple enough to travel globally, but meaningful enough to represent a new relationship with materials and waste.

“The symbol understands time not as a straight line, but as a spiral: returning, restoring and beginning again,” said Navarette.

Professor Cressida Bowyer, deputy director of the Revolution Plastics Institute at Portsmouth University and was part of the judging panel, said reuse is a critical part of tackling plastic pollution, in an email.

Professor Bowyer added reuse systems can deliver environmental, economic and social benefits.

“As well as consumers, our research shows that business, NGO's, academia and governments have a vital role to play in creating the conditions for reuse systems to succeed,” she said.

“The development of a new universal logo for reuse shows there is clear momentum, to scale up reuse. Continued research and international collaboration will be essential to accelerate this progress."